How to Build a Stone Grill

An outdoor stone grill provides a warm addition to any landscape, and is excellent to use when barbecuing and slow cooking. With a bit of time and patience, you can build your own stone grill over a weekend. Your family and friends will spend many pleasant days and nights enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Things You'll Need

• Tape measure
• Pad and Pen
• Stones
• 1/4 rebar cut into 2-foot pieces
• Hammer
• String
• Spray paint
• Shovel
• Level
• Wheelbarrow
• Quick-setting cement
• Mason's rake
• Trowel
• Pre-mixed mortar
• Jointer
• Brush
• Grill grates

Instructions

1. Find a location for your grill or fire pit that is at least 20 feet away from your house and any other structure. Make sure it is far away from low hanging overhead wires, trees and branches. Locate a flat surface or a surface that can be made flat. Gravel, pebbles, dirt and grass make ideal places to build your grill.

2. Draw a plan for your grill. Keep in mind that the wall of the fire pit will be about 12 inches thick. Design your grill so that the inner layer is made of firebricks that will act as a flame retardant but still carry heat surrounded by decorative stones. The top should be covered by capstones. This makes the top flat and provides an even cooking surface. Measure both the interior and exterior of your pit. Make sure that you will be able to get a grate that will fit securely on the top of the grill. Your grill should be from 12 to 18 inches tall--taller makes it difficult to control the fire, and lower makes it too close to the ground.

3. Measure to find the exact center of the location where the grill will be built. Hammer in a piece of rebar on this spot.

4. Tie a piece of string to the bottom of the rebar. Pull it to the edge of where you want your grill to end. For example, if you want to make your grill 6 feet around, pull the string to half the distance, or 3 feet.

5. Walk around the circle and spray paint 3 feet from the center all the way around. Double check by using your tape measure to ensure that the circle measures 3 feet all the way around, always keeping the rebar as the center.

6. Dig out a ditch 4 to 6 inches deep and 12 inches from the circle you made, toward the center. Make sure your ditch is level. Spray paint the inner circle and measure to be sure it is even all the way around.

7. Mix the cement in the wheelbarrow with water following the directions of the brand you bought. It should be a spreadable consistency like peanut butter, rather than runny like paint.

8. Pour the cement slowly into the ditch you dug between the two painted circles. Form and rake the mixture with a mason's rake periodically. Fill until about 1 ½ inches from the top. Smooth the cement with a trowel.

9. Lay the pieces of rebar end to end into the cement and cover them completely with the wet cement. This helps to support the grill and will keep it from cracking during weather changes. Allow the cement to dry according to the manufacturer's instructions.

10. Mix the mortar with water according to the manufacturer's instructions. Use one bag at a time to prevent the mortar from drying out. Lay the mortar with a trowel on top of the dry concrete. Start at the outer edge and begin adding the face stones. Lay one row all the way around.

11. Lay a layer of mortar on the inside of the row you just did and lay the firebricks. The bricks should be in the inner circle, at the edge of the concrete base. Lay the bricks neatly and space them evenly as you go around. Use enough mortar to ensure they will remain in place. Tap each brick gently with the end of the trowel to be sure it is set properly and firmly. Use the level and make sure it is even, and the next brick even with the one before it.

12. Continue laying a layer of face stones and a layer of firebricks on the outer side of the grill. Do this until you have completed the inside and outside of the grill. Fill in areas in the center of the face stone layer and the firebrick layer with mortar and stones you are not using for building. Allow the mortar to dry.

13. Apply more mortar on top of the face stones and place one capstone on the mortar. The capstone should hang over the face stone by 1 or 2 inches. Whatever you decide for an overhang must be consistent all the way around. Lay the next capstone to the back of the first so it hangs over the firebrick by 1 or 2 inches. Make sure that the capstones are even and aligned all the way around. Remove excess mortar with a jointer or a brush and let the mortar dry completely.

14. Clean the structure with soap and water, then place grates on the area you are using for grilling.

Tips & Warnings

• Make a fire in the grill before using it the first time. This will burn away any loose material you have used in building.

References

• Fire Pit and Grilling Guru: Building a Fire Pit Out of Stone in Your Backyard