# Chiminea on wood deck



## mass_burner (Jul 24, 2014)

anybody ever use a chiminea on a wood deck? I was thinking of making a rolling base made lined on top with bluestone. My worry is if some coals ever fell out of it.


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## Jags (Jul 24, 2014)

Look at some of the statistics on house fires caused by grills on a wooden deck.  I don't make much of a distinction between a charcoal grill and a chiminea.  I guess it depends on your comfort/risk level.  It surpasses mine.


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## Z33 (Jul 24, 2014)

As jags said its a bad Idea. I had a friend do this and while it didn't burn his house down it did get hot enough under it to blister the pain off of his deck.

 If you are dead set on this I would get some landscaping stones and make a "hearth" type area for it to set on.


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## mass_burner (Jul 24, 2014)

Z33 said:


> As jags said its a bad Idea. I had a friend do this and while it didn't burn his house down it did get hot enough under it to blister the pain off of his deck.
> 
> If you are dead set on this I would get some landscaping stones and make a "hearth" type area for it to set on.



I was thinking of a 2x3 base with 1" blue stone slab on top. This would be on a wheels, so 2.5-3" off the deck.


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## DougA (Jul 24, 2014)

My brother has one on his wood deck. When I visited a few years ago he had flames shooting 7 ft out of the top. I stood way back and was ready to run - fast. Nothing burned down, no idea why not. Some people use them to make a nice romantic evening and others to make everyone scared!  I don't think it's a big deal if you've got a good fireproof slab and keep the fire low and totally controlled.  They are outlawed in our area but I still have one. My bigger concern would be burning embers that float around the neighborhood.


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## stoveguy2esw (Jul 24, 2014)

I run my kamado on my deck but there is no way I would use a traditional charcoal grill on it as the BGE sits in a "nest" and doesn't  radiate for starters, can be closed off relatively airtight when done cooking on it  and im always out there with it while im cooking "open" on it  now when I run long low and slow cooking I roll it to the concrete porch adjacent to the wooden deck.

as for a chiminea I wouldn't do it on a wooden deck, they aren't really designed to sit wooden decks , and they aren't regulated to give any kind of r factor or clearances for "floor protection" so to speak.


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## velvetfoot (Jul 25, 2014)

I personally don't understand the fascination with using firewood to heat the outdoors.


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## Michael Golden (Jul 25, 2014)

velvetfoot said:


> I personally don't understand the fascination with using firewood to heat the outdoors.



One of reason is the same reason I got a stove with glass! Sit and stare into the fire, it puts Me into a relaxed mood.


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## stoveguy2esw (Jul 25, 2014)

Michael Golden said:


> One of reason is the same reason I got a stove with glass! Sit and stare into the fire, it puts Me into a relaxed mood.


 

watchin a fire is primal, it draws you in and makes you stare into it, I watch fires burn almost on a daily basis at work at ESW , I can tell you , I doesn't get old even when its 90 out


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## xman23 (Jul 26, 2014)

With the popularity of fire pits and decks. I been to fiends house and find one of those 3' diameter open table top fire pits going on the deck  with nothing under it. I guess the clearance under it could have been OK, or not, but the popping embers, log roll overs, etc!!  You feel like telling them what are you thinking, but you bite your tongue. 

Hey,  I admit, I thought about doing it on the deck. But the way I like to sit around a good size fire,  my fire pit is down on the ground,  10' away and just below the deck. It's on a slate pad about 8' x 8'. Just last night my grand son had a large size bon fire going, poking it around he pushed a large pile of embers out of it, onto the slate, no issue.   

They do have fire proof pads for under stove, and your stone idea sounds good.  A chiminea with a front screen and floor protection and would be the best. I think it could be done safely, just common sense. I have been thinking about one of those gas fires for the deck. I've seen them burning through a rock or water, neat looking.


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## JCrean (Jul 30, 2014)

As a firefighter, I have first hand experience with many fires from deck chimineas, more than pretty much anything else on a deck.  You couldn't pay me to put anything more than a gas-rock pit on a wood (or even worse composite) deck.


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## xman23 (Jul 31, 2014)

JCrean said:


> As a firefighter, I have first hand experience with many fires from deck chimineas, more than pretty much anything else on a deck.  You couldn't pay me to put anything more than a gas-rock pit on a wood (or even worse composite) deck.


 
Well said, What do they say, " your playing with fire"


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