This is my fireplace kit. it comes on two pallets. It comes with everything you need - the glue, the block, and all the instructions. Now it's time to tear into these bad boys and see what we've got. I'm like a kid at Christmas. This is the box you're looking for. It's got all your glue and all your instructions. For all you fireplace experts out there, feel free, just go right ahead start building it. But for all you who aren't experts, I'd read through my directions first - just to make sure I knew I was getting into. Your kit is going to come with two pallets. One of the pallets is going to have all of your specialty pieces. It's going to have your cut piece,s lintel, trim stones... all the stuff you're going to need for your fireplace. Even though our fireplace kit is more of an extensive build, you're still just going to need some basic tools. Make sure you bring your big ass square! That's going to come in handy. We're ready to start at our fireplace and our first level is the foundation block. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to make sure that it's nice and level AND square when you start. Because if you don't, you're going to be fighting it your entire build and you don't want to do that. We're going to use our big-ass square to check everything. It's just going to need a little bit of an adjustment. It looks pretty good to me. Our fireplace is going to be built in "square foot units" (SFU). As you can see we have two blocks vertical. We're going to put one on the top. This is what's going to make it 12" by 12" and basically you're just going to rotate these back and forth just to break up the bond lines. I want to make one thing clear: Tthe weight and gravity of the block is going to hold your fire place together. The glue there's just a little extra insurance. When gluing your blocks together - just a little tip - a little bit goes a long way! You don't want your blocks to start to "swim." You actually want to feel the concrete rubbing against each other. Use the big ass square - like I have here to make sure your firebox is square and flush. Okay! We're up one level now. It's time to start with the fire brick! I'm going to start right here with this block. You're going to put it up vertical. You're going to build the sides and then you'll come back in and do the back. This is what your first layer of fire brick should look like. Notice how the back overlaps the sides. There will be a gap in the back. You don't have to worry about filling it. I just want to take the time to point out these blocks in your kit. These are called lintel blocks. You're going to place these here and you're going to make sure that the notch is facing the inside. Because, this is where your angle iron is going to rest. In this step all I'm doing here is aging the little block to make it look like the rest of the blocks. Don't be afraid to put a little muscle in. Your not going to break it in half. You're just going to have to do this on the outside edges because that's what's going to show. I'm just going to use a little bit of sand to level the angle with the tops of the lintel blocks. We're just going to make sure it's all nice and flush and everything's level. You're going to notice me using the brush a lot! All I'm doing is cleaning off debris to make sure that the block sit here like they're supposed to. Now that you're done with the fireboxes, you're going to start with the first level of your smoke chamber! It's going to "rack in" two inches on each side. This is where you're going to do this little finger trick! With the tumbled nature of the block, it's the best way to do it. As you can see here, I'm right on the money! Make sure you keep your setback even across the whole side. Use your four foot level to keep the blocks flush on the front and back sides. You're going to do the same thing with the level on the sides. Our smoke chamber is finished. Now it's time to build the chimney! Hey Everybody! After you make sure your chimney is plumb and square, I like to go back and hit the corners at a 45-degree angle just to kind of "lock" them in. Our homeowner has decided to make their chimney just a little bit taller - so instead of two rows eight we're just going to have two rows of "square foot units." Once you understand the square foot unit, it's really easy to make modifications. But, no matter what you do, you're going to have a single layer on the top (for the cap). Okay, this part is going to be a little bit weird. All we're going to do is lay out the crown block. Make sure it's perfectly square but we're NOT going to glue it, yet. Now that your crown blocks are all square and where you want them - but NOT glued... You're going to take your support block, then you're going to place them in each corner. These ARE going to be glued. and you're going to let them set up for at least 24 hours. Now that all the glue is cured, we're just going to remove these trim stones and then we're going to set the cap! You might need a little help for that one. (...2...3...LIFT) Just remember when you set the cap, it's going to seem like you're putting it upside down. But, you're going to be looking at it from the bottom :) With these trim pieces gravity's going to do its job. But as you can see, they can still fall. So you're going to make sure you really glue these down. When gluing on the trim stones, this is the only time you're going to glue on the bottom and on the sides. This is just to help it it, here. ... just a little bit better... Don't forget to reinstall your crown and make it EXTRA pretty. Congratulations! you now have your very own Romanstone fireplace kit! What did that take - 10 minutes?
