Brick BBQ Construction Project

[smithla]

HELP,

I'm building a new home and think it would be great to have the brick layers to build me a BBQ thingy on the back patio while they are there. I asked the brick layer, and his suggestion didn't appeal to me, so I've been searching for pictures/suggestions of what I should be looking at. Most if the pictures call for a built in gas grill, and I'm not opposed to that, but would be willing to consider a charcoal grill/smoker.

Thanks, Les

[JazzDad]

Hello Smithla, and welcome to TBN. It seems years ago, everyone was building BBQ grills out of brick. There was even a great "I Love Lucy" episode. I'm thinking there must be some old books lying around in libraries with construction plans, tips and techniques. (Unless the librarians have thrown them out because now no one checks them out any more.) Just like a chimney, draft would be an important consideration. And normal brick is not the same as firebrick. Good luck.

[GaryM]

Calling OkeeDon! Who made his living with this stuff.

I'd consider a brick enclosure that held a good gas grill smoker.

[smithla]

My problem is that I need to know what to build around this "Gas Grill/Smoker". Does anyone have a recommendation on a gas unit? I looked at the Weber URL, and all they show was the portable kind, like you see at Home Depot. Maybe all of the units that are considered "Built in" are standard dimensions?

Thanks,
Les

[fivestring]

Can you go to http://www.tractorbynet.com and contact or post this under the Rural section for OkeeDon?
He used to build these for a living.....

[AndyM]

Actually, Don posts on Country by Net as " donh "

If anyone needs his email address, send me a PM.

[AndyM]

Here are a couple of pictures of Don's grills...

Picture 1

Picture 2

[fivestring]

Hey, Andy.....
how's that pond out front? [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Put some bass and walleye in it and I'll come fish!!!!

[donh]

Whoops! Here I am. Has the party started already? Hope I'm not too late... [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

OK. Brick BBQ. Two basic types -- where the brick unit actually is the grill, and where the brick (or many other materials) cabinet contains a grill manufactured by someone else.

The first type, where the brick unit is the grill, is usually a wood or charcoal burning unit. As mentioned above, the actual firepit opening where the heat is going to be should be made of firebrick. The rest can be conventional brick. There has to be some sort of method to allow air to get to the fire/coals, a grate fro the food, and usually some way to get rid of the smoke. The simplest form simply has an opening in the cabinet in which to build a fire, and a grate over the opening. It can get really elaborate beyond that with cast iron doors, variable ventilation, variable height fire pits, etc.

It's also possible, but very impractical, to make a firebrick fire pit and install gas burners in it for cooking. That's a subject that goes way past the space we have here in a forum, and the simplest thing to say is that if you have to ask how to do it, you shouldn't be doing it.

A Google search for "brick bbq" will offer more sites than you have time to read.

The second type is to build a cabinet, of brick or many other types of materials, and install a manufactured grill in it. That's what I did for a living -- I never built one of the types above, because I never wanted the liability of being the grill manufacturer (terrible world we live in as fas as litigation is concerned).

We fabricated our cabinets from aluminum square tubing as a skeleton, attached plain HardiPanel as an underlayment skin, and veneered the cabinet with whatever the customer wanted in terms of appearance. We would have used brick veneer facing if the customer wanted a brick unit; we never did do a brick one, because brick is not real popular for decor here in Florida. Attached is a stone veneered unit with a Viking grill. In this unit, the grill was about $4,600; the doors were around $400; the sink and faucet and associated plumbing ran about $300; and the cabinet was about $4,200, including a $1,000 premium for stone work instead of the standard stucco. So, the total was about $9,500. This cusotmer insisted on the Viking grill to match her indoor appliances; I don't recommened them, not enough extra value for the extra price; a ProFire in the same configuration (with sideburners) would be about $3,000, and be better quality.

I've seen a variety of brick units; one of the worst in function but easiest to build involved laying brick walls, throwing all kinds of concrete and brick rubble inside to fill it up, and pouring a layer of concrete on top for a counter. What made it functionally so bad was that there was no storage. The hardest thing to do in any outdoor cabinet is the countertop if you want a hollow unit for storage; with a brick unit, I'd consider using some aluminum angle (or steel, if you live in an area where you don't have to worry about corrosion as much as we do in Florida) inside just below the top course of brick, and place something like a sheet of HardiPanel (or other cement board, like DuraRock) on the angle, and use that to support whatever you want on the countertop. Ceramic tile was the most popular choice among our customers; use a floor tile rather that a shiny wall tall, so pots and pans won't scratch it up.

On to the grill. A couple of manufacturers have charcoal or wood-burning inserts, but most of the built-in grills are gas. As you discovered, Weber does not make a built in grill. There are some factors that are pretty much required to qualify a grill as a built-in.

First, it must have square sides, or some sort of adapter kit to mount it in the cabinet if it has tapered sides. Second, the controls (valves, etc) must be part of the grill itself, rather than part of a portable cart. That's what disqualifies most of the Webers -- the controls are alongside the grill, mounted on the cart. Third, the lid design of a built-in grill should be of a two-piece, roll back design with a center hinge, so the front part of the lid rolls back over or under the rear part of the lid. The reason for this will become apparent if you try to put a conventional grill close to a wall -- there isn't room for the rear-hinged lid to open, unless the cabinet is almost 4' deep! Fourth, there must be some easy way to handle the grease -- most built-in grills have a flat tray that slides under the grill from the front. The tray can be pulled out easily for cleaning.

The factors combine to make a built-in grill somewhat more expensive than the typical portable grill. There is one additional factor that governs price that is absolutely worth considering. There are no standard sizes in the grill industry. The cabinet you build for a specific grill will have an opening that no other grill will fit. If you buy an inexpensive grill and it fails, you'll be OK as long as they company still makes that specific grill. However, it's very likely that they've either improved the grill, or failed as a company, and your grill is now an "orphan". Therefore, it pays to buy from an established manufacturer, and pay for good quality, so that the grill is worth repairing down the road.

Some of the grills I used to handle:
Napoleon -- $800 up, best around $1,200
ProFire -- $1,600 to $6,000
FireMagic -- $1,200 to $7,000; also makes charcoal inserts

There are dozens of others -- feel free to PM me if you want info on a specific make. I can get very specific on the good and bad points of a grill, but usually in a more private setting. I don't sell them any more -- I'm retired -- so I have no reason to be biased.

[smithla]

Don,

Wow, so much information to digest. I appreciate your sharing this with me, and I seem to have no time or money left. Seems like the contractor has a huge vaccum and is sucking the bank account dry. I'll share a picture taken a couple days ago, shows the rear of the new place, and you can see why I want a brick grill done. However the grill may have to wait for a while, as I still have to buy about 1200 sq ft of hardwood flooring, plus carpet, and that is just for the upstairs. Ceramic tile for the basement, so I guess the BBQ will have to be on the back burner, no pun intended.

By the way, I moved up here to North Georgia Mountains 8 years ago from Bradenton, FL, so I know where your located. I have a daughter living in Avon Park, school teacher.

Thanks lots, Les