How do I Build a Homesteading Fireplace?

Prepare your work area. Cover furniture with dust cloths or remove from the room entirely. Roll back the carpet. Wear a protective mask. Clear the chimney all the way up to the top using a vacuum cleaner and extendable chimney brush or ask a professional chimney sweep to clear it. Install a flue liner to increase the efficiency of the fireplace. Cap or screen the top of the chimney with a cowl to prevent damage by rodents and nesting birds.

Decide if you will open up the builder's arch, the brick arch that runs across the opening. The fireplace opening should be no more than 8 times the area of the flue if your chimney is square or rectangular, according to Fires and Flames. If you wish to extend the opening, use a hammer and chisel carefully to take away unwanted brickwork. Check the stability of the arch at regular intervals by inspecting the bricks above the arch for movement. If cracks begin to appear, support the arch with a wooden supporting strut at least as tall as the arch is, and contact a professional.

If you wish to keep the opening as it is, do not remove any bricks. Remove loose mortar from the bricks near the opening of the fireplace. Restore with fresh mortar, preferably fire cement, mixed in a large bowl using concrete powder and water. Lay a hearth, a block of stone set on concrete in front of the fireplace opening at least 5-inches thick, if you do not already have one, according to DIY Doctor. Use a spirit level to check the hearth is flat. Tap the hearth into the concrete to adjust its level.

Improve the energy efficiency of the fireplace opening by installing fireproof, heat resistant back boards inside the three walls of the opening. Build two side columns and a back wall using bricks or stone slabs. Bond the bricks together and the slabs to the wall or backing boards using mortar. Retain the bricks as they are or add a "frieze", a molded lintel and architrave that supports the mantel. Buy friezes secondhand if you want an antique design at a reasonable cost.

Fix the mantel and frieze to the brickwork using heat resistant glue or mortar. For an open fire, install a grate, a black metal cage in which you can burn wood or coal. For an enclosed fire, or stove, install a wood burner. Connect the wood burner to the flue inside the chimney breast using a cast iron flue liner attachment. Seal the connections using heat resistant stove putty. Purchase a fire screen and secure it a few feet from the front of the opening.