A well-designed and equipped barbecue area can be the best place for a family vacation or meeting with friends. She is an excellent element of landscape design of the seasonal dacha. Owners of household territories can use a variety of options for its arrangement, but first you need to decide on a place, make a project and select materials, and then proceed to work.
How to choose a place
The choice of a suitable place for the barbecue area should be carried out taking into account the safety of operation of barbecue equipment. First of all, there should not be any quickly flammable objects (firewood, hay, etc.) nearby. They should be located at a distance no closer than 2 m from the fire.
You should not build such a zone in a dense to the fence, trees, buildings, arbors. According to existing standards, residential buildings should be located 5 m from the source of open fire. On the mangal site, all dry grass should be destroyed. It is recommended that you have a fire extinguisher.
Important! It is forbidden to light a fire in the brazier with the use of kerosene or gasoline, as this can lead to unpleasant consequences.
When arranging a zone for a barbecue, the following factors must be taken into account:
- Air currents. Ashes should not fall into the courtyard of neighbors or in housing. If wind gusts on the site often change direction, then it is necessary to install some kind of fencing or protective canopy. Experts recommend constructing a wall 1.5–3.5 m high.
- Convenient approach. You need to have free access to the barbecue from at least two sides. In this case, it will be possible to cook together, and in the event of an accidental fire, it will be easier to extinguish the fire from several directions. Tracks should not be slippery.
- Proximity of water source. It is advisable that the water supply is not far from the barbecue and the relaxation area, since the dishes have to be washed often, and it is not very convenient to carry water. In case of fire, close placement of the water source will also be necessary.
- Location from home. A barbecue area should not be set up too far from home, as it often has to be taken out of the frypot. At the same time, close proximity is also undesirable so that smoke does not enter the living quarters.
- Comfort. As a rule, barbecue facilities are installed in a recreation area, so you need to take care of additional amenities - furniture, street lighting, etc. Too close a location is unacceptable. A convenient direct path can be arranged from the recreation area to the brazier.
- Aesthetics. Brazier and a recreation area are best located in a place with beautiful views of the garden. It is good if there are flower arrangements or flower beds from ornamental plants, a pond or a fountain nearby.
- Plot surface. The place under the barbecue must be flat so that there is no accidental rollover. All irregularities need to be fixed.
Of course, it is necessary to equip a mangal zone only taking into account already existing objects and plantings. It should be noted that the presence of farm buildings for birds and livestock next to the barbecue is also undesirable.
Design and drawings
Options for the design of the brazier can be as follows:
- Open type. It is a playground in a clearing or garden in the open. The brazier is placed directly on the ground or on a suitable support. A table and seats are set nearby. This type is the simplest and not expensive. When arranging, fire safety rules should be considered. This type takes up little space, but will depend on the weather. Rain can ruin the preparation of kebabs.
- Closed type. Provides a canopy for barbecue, table and benches. In this case, a wind barrier (wall) is installed on the rear side. The canopy is usually mounted on metal or wooden poles. When installing the brazier, you can provide a chimney. Zone parameters are determined depending on the number of people. At a minimum, the width should be 4.4-4.5 m. This is quite enough for 8-10 barbecue lovers. Now it is also fashionable to equip a patio with barbecue and a table for eating. Such a recreation area often adjoins a house or buildings. The walls are good protection against gusts of wind, but in this case the brazier is necessarily equipped with a chimney and a roof.
- Universal type. It is a mobile structure that can be assembled and disassembled by installing on any suitable site. In this case, light protection against wind and rain is used in the form of an awning made of fabric or film. For this purpose, you can also use a regular beach umbrella.
Suitable finished projects can be found on building websites or ordering from an architectural bureau. Braziers themselves can have different designs. For refractory brick options, a foundation is required. There is also a wide variety of barbecues made of metal on sale. They are placed on the ground, a lawn or a plot of stone or tile. They can be of different sizes. Small options are used for small areas.
Did you know? A patio is an open patio with fences on different sides in the form of walls, gates, gratings or buildings. It is often decorated with fountains, flowerbeds, flower beds, benches. This recreation area was built back in the days of the Roman Empire.
First of all, you should decide on the type of barbecue and area, the number of people who will participate in the barbecue, and then calculate the size of the zone. Try to transfer your ideas to paper, and even if you don’t know how to do it professionally, a sketched sketch will make it easier to navigate the sequence of work and planning the amount of material needed.
Arrangement of the place
When arranging a barbecue or stove made of bricks, you need to take care of the foundation.
The manufacturing process itself involves several steps:
- To the brazier parameters (width and length) add 12-14 cm and make the appropriate markup in the selected area.
- They dig a depression of 0.65–0.7 m. If the foundation is made of slabs, then the pit is made over the entire area, and when arranging the tape version, they dig a trench around the perimeter. Experts recommend choosing a solid foundation from the slab, since it better withstands temperature extremes.
- Tamp the bottom of the pit.
- Pour crushed stone with a height of 10-12 cm and compact it manually or with a power tool.
- A concrete formwork 10 cm high for a slab and 25-30 cm for a strip foundation is prepared. Typically, cement of grade M200 and others is taken for this purpose. It is advisable to lay reinforcement under the slab in the form of a mesh, and for the tape version, rods.
- The concrete is allowed to solidify for 9-14 days, and then two waterproofing layers of roofing or roofing material are installed, smearing each of them.
Then they lay a brick or stone barbecue according to the chosen project, or the purchased metal brazier is concreted into the foundation.The site itself is laid out with flooring from paving slabs, stone or wood. To do this, remove the soil layer (30 cm), level and compact the soil, and then fill it with a layer of sand and gravel (5-10 cm each). The crushed stone is covered with sand from above and laid on top of the slab on a cement mortar. Often concrete is poured over the macadam layer, having previously installed the formwork, and flooring materials are placed on it.
Important! When installing the site in the open air, a slight bias is made to drain the water. To check its level, use the building spirit level.
Subsequent arrangement involves following some rules:
- Provide a canopy. So that rainy weather does not become an obstacle to cooking, you need to install a canopy over the barbecue and a table with seats. You can make a gazebo. In this case, it is made of concrete, brick, metal parts. If the arbor is wooden, then it is necessary to ensure that the tree is impregnated with a special coating. In the floor in front of the hearth, a hole should be made from a metal sheet so that accidentally dropped coals do not cause a fire.
- To erect a wall or fence. Such a structure can be made of decorative stone and installed on the north side. Part of the plot adjacent to the neighboring courtyard can be separated by planting vines, which form a dense green screen. If the barbecue area is used not only in the warm period, but also in winter, then it can be fenced with 1-2 capital walls, while others can be made lighter, sliding, or use removable panels.
- Think over the chimney. In a stationary furnace, the pipe is led out through the roof, and for a portable fire source, there are enough openings in the canopy with parameters of 35 × 35 cm. To protect the chimney from precipitation, a special cap is installed on top.
- Pick up a table and seats. In indoor options, you can use massive dining furniture or make comfortable sofas. In the open, it is better to use light portable furniture that is resistant to various weather conditions.
- Worry about inventory storage. If you often like to cook in the fresh air, then it is better to equip such an area with a work table or cabinet, shelves for storing dishes and other kitchen utensils.
- Conduct electricity and make lighting. It is also necessary for connecting electrical appliances - a kettle, stove, mixer, etc.
- Set up a washstand. It is hung on a wall or other suitable support. Water flowing from the washstand is taken to a barrel or large basin without a bottom using a pipe. You can plant crops nearby, preferring moist soil.
What material to make a barbecue area
The following materials are most popular for a barbecue area:
- A rock. Real or artificial. It looks the most decorative and is a fireproof option. It is used to finish the furnace and to cover the site.
- Brick. This heat-resistant material is of various quality and colors. Beautiful masonry will give the barbecue area a more solid look.
- Metal. Forged products are not cheap, but look vintage. Barbecue and work surfaces, furniture and decor elements can be made of metal.
For decoration and flooring, you can take wood, but directly next to the fryer itself you should use non-flammable materials. The terrace board does not last as long as paving slabs, stone or clinker bricks, used to equip the area for the barbecue area, but it gives the area a more comfortable look. Wooden elements should be treated with protective agents. Under hard coatings they make a base depending on the material chosen. The terrace board is laid on the logs, and the garden parquet is placed on a concrete or gravel base. Sand, cement and gravel are needed for the foundation under the stone barbecue and flooring.
Did you know? Scientists have found that the use of marinade for meat not only makes it tastier, but also prevents the formation of carcinogens when cooking on an open fire, especially when rosemary, turmeric and garlic are in the sauce.
With a stationary canopy, the supporting racks for the roof are made of wood, metal or brick. The canopy itself is made of wooden rafters, and the coating can be different - from tiles, roofing material, slate, metal sheets. Many summer residents when arranging a barbecue area use tree cuts or make mosaics from broken dishes.
Zoning
Even at the stage of drafting projects and drawings, certain areas that perform different functions should be sketched on the general plan of the mangal platform. If desired, they can be separated by live or wicker hedges, a wooden, bamboo or forged partition, a bar counter.
This place is usually divided into the following zones:
- For cooking. There will be a barbecue and appliances for him. It is located most often along the edge of the site. Usually there are also work surfaces for cutting and cooking.
- For eating. It has a dining table and seats.
When placing them, you must follow certain rules:
- the place of eating should be located further than 2 m from the barbecue and not block the approaches to it;
- over both zones it is best to make canopies or place them in the gazebo, so as not to depend on the vagaries of the weather;
- if you put a table with chairs near the wall, then solve the problem of securing the canopy and the shadow.
When the barbecue area is only part of a large resting place, then to the zoning of the territory you should approach more globally and determine where other areas will be located - a pool and sun loungers, a bathhouse, a playground and more. The place of eating can be located on the terrace of the house, in the summer kitchen, gazebo. The main thing is that it should not be far from the barbecue, but not closer than the recommended minimum distances.Did you know? Chinese scientists recommend placing the food intake away from smoke or making a stove with a good extract. Prolonged inhalation of burning is harmful to human health, as it contains carcinogens.
Furniture and lighting installation
Garden furniture on the brazier should be resistant to the external environment and weather. Most preferably collapsible or lightweight products, which at the end of the season can be transferred to storage.
The following furniture materials are most popular for summer residents:
- Plastic. Light and affordable tables and chairs of various sizes, colors and patterns. There is a stylization of wood or marble. During operation, it becomes scratched, and under direct sunlight it quickly loses its appearance.
- Metal. Shod furniture looks very original and decorative, but is not cheap. She looks great next to the iron barbecue. Such furniture is somewhat heavy and requires a hard coating of the site. It is durable, but it is better not to put it in the sun, since the metal is very hot from this. Pillows of bright colors go well with it.
- Rattan. In the open, it is recommended to use artificial rattan. Such furniture looks very presentable in the country. In addition, it is lightweight and durable.
- Wood. It looks great and fits well with various design styles, but requires careful care.
In the indoor version you can arrange upholstered furniture. It's good to use frameless modular options. Mangal platform, combined with a recreation area, can be well supplemented by toppers and futons. They are not very convenient for eating, but it’s comfortable to rest in them. Inventive summer residents make furniture from pallets, tires, industrial coils and even plastic bottles. Often, wooden logs and stumps fit into furniture.
It’s good to install different light sources for individual zones:
- near the outbreak;
- over the table;
- to highlight decor elements (flower beds, statues, fountain);
- along the perimeter of the recreation area.
To stay on the brazier platform in the dark, lighting is required. If electricity is not supplied here, you can use solar-powered lamps or battery lights. For this, you can use LED lights and ribbons, garlands, bulbs and lamps of different shapes and light intensities.
Decor application
When decorating and decorating a resting place with barbecue, the general style of the site should be taken into account. Under it should be chosen and furniture, buildings, decorative figures, plants. If there is a Japanese or Chinese garden around, then you should use natural materials, stones and gravel.You can plant conifers (thuja, juniper) or lush flowering shrubs (hydrangeas, rhododendrons) near the site, make a small pond with a bridge or a fountain in a natural style. The main thing is not to plant anything near the fire. It would also be a good idea to put a gazebo in the form of a tea house and arrange containers with miniature trees.
In the Scandinavian or rustic style, beds and pots with herbs will look goodsimple flowers such as marigold or nasturtium. Wicker fence, pottery and funny garden figures, a well, simple wooden furniture will also be appropriate.
For a regular style, the resting place can be decorated with symmetrically placed flowerpots with roses and classic statues. The pergola with vines, evergreens, amphorae, stone or mosaic flooring and rattan furniture with pillows will look great on the Mediterranean patio. Nearby you can place a pond or pool. With eco-style, you can use stumps and picturesque driftwood, wicker from the vine and plant wild plants.Did you know? The Japanese have a convenient fixture - kotatsu, which will be appropriate on the brazier in cold evenings. It is a low table with a frame and a detachable worktop, under which a blanket or a special electric stove is placed.
Forged area can be decorated with forged items - furniture, lamps, pergolas, fences and partitions, utensils. A beautifully crafted barbecue can itself become the main decoration. No less spectacular will look masonry roaster made of natural stone or its imitation, decorative brick. The latter can still be decorated with tiled plates or stucco. They can be plastered and decorated with a fabulous Russian stove.
Not the last role in the decor and creating coziness is played by textiles - tablecloths, pillows, towels, rugs, curtains.Arrangement of the barbecue area gives great scope for imagination. According to your desire and taste, you can arrange a roasting pan surrounding the territory, choose furniture and decor. Having embodied all his fantasies, such a platform has every chance of becoming the most comfortable and favorite place on a suburban area.