How to build an outdoor fireplace bbq

After making my great pork tenderloin bbq for friends on my charcoal grills and smokers in my bbq kitchen, everyone loves to relax on our patio. As the evening goes on, and as a few more glasses of wine get poured, the last thing you want to have to do is move the party inside when it starts to get a bit chilly outside. This is when an outdoor fireplace would come in handy. Fire pits outdoor will extend the good times long into the night. The challenge is figuring out how to build an outdoor fireplace.

For years I searched "how to build outdoor fireplace" for plans and ideas for something more substantial than a cheap outdoor fireplace fire pit or table fire pit available at your local Home Depot. After reading numerous articles online, I finally found a fantastic solution ... a fire pit fireplace made by a company called Mirage Stone.

I'd first seen this wood outdoor fireplace advertised on Costco.com, but wanted to learn more. They seemed too good to be true. They come in a variety of colors, and have 2 models. One is a wood outdoor fireplace with bbq insert (this is the one I bought). The other is a natural gas outdoor fireplace.

I expected the cost of an outdoor fireplace to be substantial, maybe $4000 or more once you figured in supplies, shipping and labor. Most of the plans I found were supposedly DIY, but I knew at some point I'd likely have to hire an expensive professional who knew how to work with mortar. Was I surprised to see that Costco.com was selling this fireplace bbq for just $1699, including shipping! Wow. I couldn't pull my credit card out fast enough.

My wood outdoor fireplace arrived in about 3 weeks. Costco even sent me a link to track it from the manufacturing plant in Arizona right through to delivery at my house. It was delivered on a pallet wrapped in packing material and heavy duty cardboard. Once I got the packing material out of the way, it was time to move it to my backyard and build my outdoor fireplace.

How to build an outdoor fireplace

Although my wood outdoor fireplace weighed almost 1200 pounds, it comes in about 50 pieces, all sized small enough for the average person to move quite easily. Assembly was incredibly simple, with my outdoor fireplace built in about one hour. There's no mortar, glues or fasteners. It's like adult outdoor brick lego, stacking the various pieces one by one as per the easy to follow fire pit fireplace plans. They even have a video on the Mirage Stone website to follow if you want.

Now my friends can stay warm long into the evening. For me, this is what outdoor entertaining is all about.