Pendleton Place Outdoor Fireplace
A Labor of Love
"Come On Baby Light My Fire(place)!" That’s what she said to me one night after getting walloped one too many times by blasts of smoke from our second portable fire pit gone awry. My lovely wife of 38 years is not fond of smoke in her hair and every time we lit those $100 portable fire pits, she got smoked! Then she had an idea…”Don’t we still have extra brick stored under the house from 30 years ago?” “Well... yes,” I said nervously, afraid of what she was going to say next. Unluckily for me, about 900 bricks were wasting away in our crawl space, just enough to build a real outdoor fireplace, all so she doesn’t get smoke in her hair anymore. I told her that I’m not a brick mason and then she called me “CHICKEN!” That did it! I’ll show her!
As a Professional Engineer, I could not be defeated. About this time last year, I made a fancy drawing of her idea and then YouTube and I became bosom buddies. I dug footers, mixed and poured concrete for a patio extension, and laid a heck of a lot of brick. The 900 brick that matched our house was enough to cover the exterior, but lots more needed to be acquired as fill. From March to November, most weekends were spent outside working on her fireplace. I have great respect for Masons! They are skilled and much faster than I am. If I tried to make a living laying brick, as slow as I am, she’d never be able to afford the hair salon and we would starve! The more brick I laid, the better I got, and thank goodness for muriatic acid, as it cleaned away my many smears.
We have been enjoying the fireplace with family and friends. It makes a great place for a cup of tea, a bowl of chowder, and especially for making pudgy pies. All in all, the project wasn’t too bad, and now her hair smells nice too, but to be honest, I kind of miss the smell of fire in her hair.
As a Professional Engineer, I could not be defeated. About this time last year, I made a fancy drawing of her idea and then YouTube and I became bosom buddies. I dug footers, mixed and poured concrete for a patio extension, and laid a heck of a lot of brick. The 900 brick that matched our house was enough to cover the exterior, but lots more needed to be acquired as fill. From March to November, most weekends were spent outside working on her fireplace. I have great respect for Masons! They are skilled and much faster than I am. If I tried to make a living laying brick, as slow as I am, she’d never be able to afford the hair salon and we would starve! The more brick I laid, the better I got, and thank goodness for muriatic acid, as it cleaned away my many smears.
We have been enjoying the fireplace with family and friends. It makes a great place for a cup of tea, a bowl of chowder, and especially for making pudgy pies. All in all, the project wasn’t too bad, and now her hair smells nice too, but to be honest, I kind of miss the smell of fire in her hair.