How to Get the Height You Want for an Outdoor Fireplace

Fire Farm’s outdoor fireplace kits from Stone Farm are easily customizable to create the fireplace of anyone’s dreams. Whether it’s a huge firebox or a super tall chimney, each kit comes in a variety of sizes which can then be added onto to build your “just right” outdoor fireplace. Here’s a basic guideline of the different ways we can add height.

For this example, we’re going to start with a 48″ Contractor base kit, although the same principles of these customizations would generally work for most kits. We have fireplaces ranging from a modest 24″ wide to our New Age 72″ — an enormous fireplace fit for any scene in Game of Thrones. Winter Is coming, let’s get your fireplace ready!

The Contractor fireplace kit (this includes the fireplace base and three flue extensions) on its own — without any add ons — is 77.5 inches high, or about 6 and a half feet tall. The sloping silhouette of these kits is the bread and butter of what people are looking for in traditional outdoor fireplaces, and these sizes fit well into comfortable outdoor living spaces. Our New Age kit — with its more modern, square profile — is “zero clearance”, which means you’ll be able to mount a TV over it — a feature many people are looking for when they are planning their outdoor living rooms.

The first way to add to the overall height of your fireplace kit is to extend the fire box. This is the area where the fire itself will be. On our Contractor fireplace this area can be enlarged with an 11″ firebox extender kit. This puts our total height above 7 feet, meaning most of us won’t be taller than our fireplace. Plus we’re starting to get some good height above privacy fences, so your neighbors can be envious of your fireplace without even entering your backyard.

Each of our Contractor kits include three 6′ flue extensions, which are factored into the base height of 77.5″. A simple way to create a tall fireplace is to keep adding these extensions. (New Age flue extensions are 8″ high.) For this purpose, let’s add just one extra, resulting in an additional 6″ in height. We’re getting closer to 8 feet now… taller than Shaq, and even Manute Bol, who towered over the NBA in the ’80s at 7′ 7″!

Here’s where things get really fun. One of the places people can add instant personality to an outdoor fireplace is with the hearth. The hearth or base of a fireplace can be any height, and can be made from a variety of materials, from brick to beautiful reclaimed granite curbing. Our Standard kits take a Contractor fireplace and include an 18″ hearth to the base of the fireplace. For this purpose, we’re going to go with a modest 8″ hearth, bringing the height of our outdoor fireplace above Sultan Kösen, the Turkish farmer who holds the Guinness World Record for tallest living male at a phenomenal 8 ft 2.82 in. Congratulations! Our fireplace is now taller than any human! (And don’t forget to add your cricket on the hearth for good luck.)

The crown of any outdoor fireplace is the chimney cap, which sits right on top of the chimney. You can choose a metal chimney cap, or your mason can build an elegant cap with a natural stone top. This is a great way to add that extra boost of height and an aesthetically pleasing chimney. For this example, let’s choose a common chimney cap height of 8″, bringing us above 9 feet, which is higher than most patio umbrellas (and, coincidentally, most ostriches, though this probably isn’t too applicable to United States backyard living spaces).

If you’re looking for 10 feet, or 14 feet or whatever height you’re shooting for in your outdoor fireplace, at this point you can just keep adding flue extensions in 6″ increments until you reach it. Just make sure you consult local codes for maximum fireplace height. The beauty of our kits means that you can start with a base you know will draft properly, add on pieces until you’ve reached the height you’re looking for, and then finish it with veneer to complete your “just right” look.

This fireplace has a soaring chimney.

For more information, email us at Sales@thefirefarm.com, give us a call at 203.270.2900 or find a dealer of Stone Age outdoor fireplace kits near you.