Do you love dining al fresco? If you enjoy nothing more than a barbie in the garden, it is probably worth getting a good barbecue. Of course, you could spend hundreds of pounds on buying a new one but making your own is fun, cheap and will last for years. What’s not to love about that?
If you are planning on building a brick barbecue and you have no bricklaying experience, it may be best to find an online instruction film to help you or employing a builder or handyman. However, if you do have some experience, this guide will help you.
You Will Need:
- Bricks or breeze blocks– these can be bought new, or you can look for reclaimed spares
- Paving slabs
- Barbecue set – you can buy grill pans and grills online, from about £30
- Brick setts
- Cement
- Sand
- Spade
- Trowel
- Spirit level
- Hosepipe.
Planning Your Barbecue
First, choose the best spot. Make sure the new spot is level, out of the wind and away from anything flammable. If you are in doubt, you can always have a portable barbecue in the spot to see if it is right. There are two types of barbecue to choose from: a basic barbecue, or one with a stone side table, too. Do a bit of research and plan your barbecue according to your creativity, ability and tastes. Once you have decided on the size and design, you can calculate how many bricks you need. Lay your barbecue grill and (if you are making a side table) stone slab on the ground and lay out a surround of bricks, keeping as many as possible whole. You will end up with a capital E in bricks. This will tell you how many bricks you need per row. Based on a barbecue 13 bricks high, multiply the number of bricks in your E by 14 – to give you a few spares.
The Build
Using a mix of 5 parts sand to one part cement, fix your bricks. Use the spirit level at each stage to ensure that it is even. On the seventh course (row), on the left hand and inner walls, place the bricks side-on to create a ledge for the tray to sit on. Lay another three complete course and use side-on bricks on the 11th course (row) for the grill. Another two rows will give you a completed barbecue but if you want to add a warming grill, complete four more courses around the grill section only. make ledges on the 16th row and finish off with two more courses. Finally, cement a stone slab onto the side table section to complete your work area.
Once your build has dried, you are ready to enjoy many years of happy barbecuing!