Our Company Blog
Thinking of a Garden Fireplace
If you dream of having an outdoor fireplace but don’t have enough space, opt for a garden fireplace instead.
Outdoor fireplaces can be grand, elaborate focal points of patios, decks, and outdoor rooms; however, if you do not have the space for a large fireplace in your backyard, you may want to consider a garden fireplace. Smaller designs to fit in small spaces, garden fireplaces can still provide a relaxing entertainment and meditation area for your family and friends without taking up a lot of room. At IBD Outdoor Rooms, we carry gas, biofuel, and gel fuel units in a variety of shapes and sizes. Our garden fireplace kits come in unfinished and finished, including a granitech finish. As with all outdoor fireplaces and landscaping projects, several things must be considered in the design process according to the Landscaping Network website, and we would like to share what you need to think about when planning for a garden fireplace.
● local codes
For safety reasons, you must contact your city planning office to find out the zoning regulations for an outdoor fireplace. These regulations include how far away your garden fireplace must be from any existing structures and how tall the chimney should be in relation to those structures. Building permits, fire codes, and residential ordinances may also apply. You do not want to face any expensive fines, so it is essential to know the laws concerning outdoor fireplaces in your community.
● privacy
As your garden fireplace is meant to be a personal retreat for you, your family, and your friends, privacy should be considered when you are deciding where to build your garden fireplace. One idea is to place your fireplace with its back facing your neighbor’s yard to act as a privacy screen if you do not have a privacy fence. You may want to think about even building a stone wall or enclosure to ensure a secluded area for your garden fireplace.
● wind direction
Another thing to consider when planning where to build your garden fireplace, the wind direction can have a huge effect on how well your fireplace will work. Placing your garden fireplace where it will act as a wind break creates a calm and comfortable space to relax and fully enjoy your outdoor flame.
● fuel type
IBD Outdoor Rooms offers three different fuel options for a garden fireplace: gas, biofuel (ethanol), and gel fuel. Familiarize yourself with the benefits and disadvantages of each kind of fuel to select which type is the best for your garden fireplace.
● seating
Patio furniture can be a great choice for seating around your garden fireplace because it can be moved around so people can sit as close or as far away from the flame as they want. When selecting patio seating, consider comfort and safety. A conversation set with deep-seated chairs and a love seat or small sofa is a popular choice; just be sure the seating is comfortable and not made of metal. Metal patio furniture can be very dangerous as it conducts heat and may burn you, your family, or your guests. Another seating option is to build in seating or seat walls. Made from concrete, stone, or brick, these seats can be either bench style or have backs. You may want to add pillows or custom cushioning to make your built-in seating more comfortable.
If you are considering a garden fireplace, contact IBD Outdoor Rooms today to talk with our experienced staff about planning your new backyard oasis.
You Need Your Chase
All About Chases
Whether we’re talking about an indoor or outdoor fireplace, certain components are built into the design that are specifically there to help protect that beautiful fireplace from the damaging effects of rain, snow, sleet and any other forms of moisture that come its way.
Unsure what your chase cover does? Interested to know more about decorative options? Contact us today.
One component that sits at the top of your chimney — the chase — ends up being more or less the first line of defense against that damage. It forms a barrier that diverts water away and protects the stone, brick or other masonry materials in the process. Chases — particularly the ones we carry at IBD Outdoor Rooms — aren’t simply utilitarian though. They can add a lot of visual interest, either bringing in a pop of color with copper or bringing in a dynamic shape that complements or enhances the design of your home.
Different Materials, Different Benefits
If you had a fireplace installed with a chase that’s begun to fail, with rust streaking down its sides and pits and corrosion holes peeking through, odds are that was a galvanized chase. Galvanized metal is a really cost-conscious choice, and that’s why galvanized chase covers and chimney caps are often chosen and installed by builders. But depending on factors like weather and location, galvanized metal can wear down sometimes in just a handful of years.
At IBD Outdoor Rooms, we can show you a variety of chases in copper or stainless steel, which we find to be the most aesthetically pleasing and functionally dependable materials you’ll find.
Stainless steel is also a good value and has a beautiful clean look. As an outdoor material, it’s also highly durable, so you can expect a much longer, much less trouble-marked service life than you would with galvanized metal. We also offer powder-coated stainless steel chases for clients who want a different look — maybe a bold color, or dynamic black — with the durability of stainless steel.
Copper chases bring remarkable beauty to a home or outdoor space. And through the years, while remaining strong and durable, copper develops that gorgeous telltale colorful patina — it truly only gets better with time.
Simple Or More Dynamic Shapes
IBD Outdoor Rooms can help guide you toward the perfect chase, whether you’re looking for something visually simple or something that really draws the eye. We carry classic chase covers with and without a hole (the latter would be for vent-free units), but we also offer chases with shroud extensions that bring a bold design pop, from a Gothic look to Roman and Grecian designs. Talk to us about the design you’re envisioning, and we’ll help you find the perfect new chase!
If you’re looking to have a chase replaced or installed — or just have some questions about their function or possibilities when it comes to aesthetics — we’re always glad to help. Just give IBD Outdoor Rooms a call!
Quick Chase Overview
What Is a Quick Chase?
Got an ugly metal chimney pipe jutting out of your roofline that you’d like to give the look of a masonry chimney or that you’d like to clad in siding? Or do you have a rotted-out chase system that needs replacing, or a chimney chase that is in need of a major overall? We have a solution for you.
There are advantages for homeowners who choose a prefabricated chimney. However, the metal chimney on top of your house likely isn’t one. Meet our Quick Chase solution.
Our company serves a lot of purposes and provides many different outdoor products for our customers, but one of the things we’re most proud of at IBD Outdoor Rooms is how we’ve pioneered what we call the “quick chase.”
As manufactured chimneys and fireplaces began to increase in popularity, we recognized the need for this product, which is designed to cover up an unsightly metal chimney, also known as a “prefabricated” or “manufactured” chimney. Our custom-built quick chases give the look of a masonry or other built-in chimney, but without all the construction cost and headache associated with building, maintaining—and supporting the weight of—a real masonry chimney.
Our quick chase even has the durability of a masonry chimney; the system carries a limited lifetime warranty.
How the Quick Chase System Works
Depending on your preference and budget, you can order a quick chase made of either 22-gauge galvanized steel or 22-gauge stainless steel framing members that are then covered with half-inch concrete board.
Stainless steel chimney flashing is built into the chase and attached to the framing members, inserted behind the concrete board. Our quick chase system can either be custom configured by your installer or purchased with a two-part system that includes a pitch adaptor to work with most common roof pitches.
Following installation of the system by a qualified professional, your quick chase can be finished with veneer stone, veneer brick, stucco, siding, or any other weatherproof material that you’d like. In addition to the quick chase system, we can also ship you a high-quality chase cover designed to fit your chase and keep rain, debris, and animals out of your chimney, extending its life.
Have questions about our quick chase system? Contact us today.
An Outdoor Fireplace to Warm You Up
Choosing an outdoor fireplace that’s just right for your home, your needs, and you style can be hard. We at IBD Outdoor Rooms can help you pick out the best one from among our wide array of options.
While summer days are hot and sunny, the nights of the season can be cool, and it is really never too warm for a soft, crackling fire after dark. Adding an outdoor fireplace to your patio creates warmth, both literally as a heat source and figuratively as a focal point for your family and friends when relaxing or entertaining. IBD Outdoor Rooms offers a variety of outdoor fireplaces, including Art of Fire, visual expressions of art functioning as outdoor fireplaces. Our team can help you customize the perfect outdoor fireplace and install it on your patio, allowing you to enjoy the beauty and warmth of fire outside your home.
Modern Look
If you need design inspiration for how to set up your outdoor fireplace with your patio, the website for the cable channel HGTV posted 20 Cozy Outdoor Fireplaces, with pictures of different patio designs integrating indoor fireplaces. One features a large outdoor fireplace as the star centerpiece with its stone facade, highlighted by a black iron-accented patio. Another highlight, a double-sided outdoor fireplace you can enjoy from a covered section of your patio, if it rains. If you want the more contemporary, modern look, an idea infusing an IBD Outdoor Rooms favorite, Art of Fire-like mod circular metal fire pit with curved deck seating was eye-catching in the HGTV collection of outdoor fireplaces blended in with patios, lakes, and decks.
Traditional Look
Into more of the traditional outdoor stone hearth fireplace style? With choices between two different series of fireplaces, IBD Outdoor Rooms recommends Estate Series as these outdoor fireplaces are customized to fit anywhere they are CSIA-certified to be installed, meaning they can be any size, any fuel type (wood, gas, bio-fuel, or gel fuel), and can be vented or vent-free. This gives you so many options in just about everything! These fireplaces start out with a cabinet and a hearth base, with options for extended hearth bases and dress out bands. Chases are then selected, with a choice of Classique 42-inch and 72-inch heights, Stratford 36-inch height, Tuscan 42-inch height, and to add vertical appeal to an existing chimney, the Venetian Chase – 1872 is also used commonly to clear out wood-burning smoke or vented gas log fumes, as it adds height.
Contemporary Classic Look
If you are seeking a more contemporary classic look, you may be more drawn to our Veranda Series. Providing a ready to finish surface, the fireplace cabinet surrounds a manufactured outdoor fireplace. This cabinet is the required piece to be pipeless and serves as the base for all components of the fireplace. The qualified staff at IBD Outdoor Rooms will be able to help you build on with choices of front and side hearths, a chase top dress out, and the elegant Veranda wood box. You then choose between chases; like the Estates, your choices are Classique, Stratford, Tuscan, and Venetian.
As you can see, you have so many different outdoor fireplace design ideas to warm up your patio, so contact IBD Outdoor Rooms today to request a consultation with our experienced staff about designing your own outdoor fireplace.
Let’s Talk Pavilions
The perfect outdoor addition that adds value and beauty to your home and offers a place of relaxation, leisure, and enjoyment — a pavilion.
One of the newest trends in outdoor living, pavilions are popping up in backyards all across the country. A way to add an open outdoor room to your home, a pavilion gives your family a focal point to enjoy the outdoors, and it increases the value of your home. At IBD Outdoor Rooms, we can customize pavilions to be any size or shape to your taste, and we also build pergolas as well, so you have many choices of styles and shapes from which to choose. Increase the value of your house while creating a space for your family and friends to bond outdoors by contacting IBD Outdoor Rooms today to talk to us about building a pavilion or pergola in your yard.
Pavilion or Pergola?
You may be wondering what the difference is between a pavilion and a pergola. A pavilion is usually open (although it can be enclosed with screen or glass), sometimes ornamental, and is used as a place of recreational shelter and entertainment. A pergola generally is a structure made of parallel columns supporting an open and flat roof of cross rafters and girders. Whichever style you choose, IBD Outdoor Rooms can customize the perfect pavilion or pergola to exactly how you would like it to look, using whatever wood you choose. We have both post options, including the standard Douglas fir post, Black Locust Bark posts, Hand Hewn posts, and Milled with Draw Knife finish posts, and rafter and roof options, including convex cove rafter tails, Appalachian rafter tails, bullnose rafter tails, cove rafter tails, German S rafter tails, German cover rafter tails, cross hatch tops, twigs for tops, Spanish moss, thatch roofing, roof decking, and cedar shake shingles.
Pavilion Designs
If you need some design ideas for your pavilion, Better Homes and Gardens has an article, “Pool House and Pavilion Ideas” that will inspire you to create your dream pavilion or pergola. One idea features a pavilion that matches the decor of the home by painting the structure to match the color of the home. A large, airy pavilion, it features latticework screening for privacy and includes a dining set with a large chandelier to be enjoyed at all times. Another idea calls for screening in the roofed pavilion to protect you and your family from insects while you enjoy your time eating and relaxing in your private escape. A third, very large pavilion provides two separate areas: one includes an outdoor fireplace, which can be easily installed by IBD Outdoor Rooms, and the other space is reserved as a dining area. There is even a glass-roofed pavilion that is laminated to filter in sunlight, painted in a light color to reflect the sun to keep the room cool and airy, and features an outdoor grill nestled in the wall that separates it from the patio. As you can see, the sky is the limit when it comes to designing your perfect pavilion.
We at IBD Outdoor Rooms want to build you the pavilion or pergola of your dreams. Contact us today to talk to our qualified staff about planning your customized outdoor structure. We will walk you through the entire process, from planning to building.
