Backyard Lighting

Outdoor lighting on DIY outdoor fireplace at night — Beautify your DIY outdoor fireplace with lighting.

There are many ways to install backyard lighting in your outdoor space. In this quick tutorial, we’d like to specifically go over our method of installing low voltage lighting in a outdoor fireplace structure. We are currently building an amazing DIY outdoor fireplace at my in-law’s house in Marana, Arizona, a suburb of Tucson, and it is turning out beautiful. To include that “extra something”, we made sure to add a little lighting to the fireplace, so it really shows off the structure at night. Backyard lighting makes the world of difference when added tastefully. Just a little goes a long way.

Bring Your Backyard To Life

Even when we aren’t enjoying the warmth of a fire, we want to be able to look out the window into the backyard and see the fireplace, and the lighting will really make that happen. The backyard lighting also gives off enough ambient light, so the backyard isn’t completely dark. We want to be able to go outside and walk around the backyard at night without having to turn on all the exterior patio lights.

Lowes? Yep…They’re Everywhere

Here at Backyard Flare, we love to shop at Lowes Home Improvement because they have so much variety in their departments. Follow them on Instagram at @loweshomeimprovement for great pics and design ideas. For the lighting on our structure, we ventured to the outdoor lighting aisle and we picked up a Hampton Bay 150W transformer, a 100-foot spool of low voltage lighting cord, and six Hampton Bay LED lights. The total was about $125, but you’ll see that it was worth every penny.

Backyard Lighting Installation

So, let’s get into the installation method. To understand low voltage lighting, it is important to know that it’s like powering a light bulb with a battery. A transformer will plug into a wall outlet, but the alternating current from the outlet will be converted in the transformer to direct current, like a battery. The 100-foot power cord is attached to the back of the transformer like you would attach speaker cord to a receiver, only a screw driver is used after the ends of the wires are stripped.

We routed the cord to the structure, and it entered on the back-left side. We ran it through the structure, cutting grooves into the tops of the cinder blocks for channels where necessary. The cord ran everywhere we wanted lights, and then it exited the back-right side of the fireplace.

Light Positioning

Low voltage lighting cord in a DIY outdoor fireplace. LED lighting and cinder block — Run the power cord through the structure by cutting grooves into the block.

Once we figured out exactly where we wanted the lights, we used a 3/8” masonry drill bit and drilled holes big enough to pass the LED light connector through the block. Inside the block, the lights’ push pin connectors were attached to the power cord and… we had light. The lights were attached to the front of the structure using wall anchors in the block. To install the wall anchors, we drilled more holes using a ¼” masonry drill bit. It’s just like adding them to drywall, but with a little bit more dust.

We made sure to add a light on the inside of each storage void too so the voids would be back-lit. It added a lot of appeal to the look of the structure and sure made a huge impact at night. The addition of light to an outdoor fireplace or kitchen is super simple and we know that you can do it. We sure hope this helped you out and that it eased your hesitation to add lighting to your structure or backyard. If you’re interested in building your own DIY outdoor fireplace or outdoor kitchen, visit us at Backyard Flare for the best and most comprehensive outdoor construction plans on the market.

Show Us What Your Lighting

We would love to see some of your outdoor lighting. Please send pics of your projects to dan@backyardflare.com. Thanks for reading, and I hope you learned something here. Until next time, have fun on your outdoor projects and happy building.

Dan Heston
Backyard Flare, LLC
Tucson, Arizona
www.backyardflare.com
www.diyoutdoorfireplaces.com
520-269-9740

Fireplace and Pizza Oven Review – Tucson

Fireplace and Pizza Oven Awesomeness

fireplace pizza oven granite flagstone gas fire patio cover pergola heater veneer diy — Relaxing by the DIY gas fireplace during a dinner party.

The other day, my wife and I attended a dinner party at the home of a previous fireplace and pizza oven customer. We were able to spend some time outside enjoying the fireplace and just the awesomeness of the backyard. Homeowner Tom helped me build this structure, so this is technically a DIY build in a sense. Tom learned a lot and he was able to add lots of great value while we had a blast constructing his masterpiece.

Massive Structure Size

There is so much to his fireplace and pizza oven structure. To get started, the whole circular structure is a whopping 31 feet in diameter. It’s massive to say the least. It surrounds a seven-foot-wide natural gas fireplace. Inside the four-foot-wide firebox is an “H” pipe covered with bright red fire glass. The fire glass color is great because, if you look closely at the picture, it turns blueish purple when it heats up. Such a great look.

The front of the fireplace is covered with a great stone veneer and the remainder of the structure was stuccoed to match the texture on Tom’s house. The seating is all smoothed flagstone cut to match the curvature of the seat back wall. On the hearth, there are several low voltage lights that add that extra something. It looks amazing every night, whether there is a fire blazing away or not.

Pizza Anyone?

The left side of the structure holds the pizza oven built around a BrickWood Ovens DIY mold. It didn’t get any easier than that mold to build around and then wait until the mortar cured. The pizza oven is covered in stucco that is painted the same color as the rest of the structure.

To the left side of the pizza oven, we added a piece of polished granite, so Tom could roll out his pizza dough and prepare his pizzas. No need to run into the house every time, the counter is right there. Seeing how much Tom and his family has used the fireplace and pizza oven makes me smile that they are building lots of great memories. The parties with family and friends are a lot of fun and the quiet nights in front of the fire are special for them too.

Check us Out

If the idea of a fireplace and pizza oven sounds like something you would want to step into, there is a great place to go, Backyard Flare. You can look through the great design ideas and also figure out what you want in your backyard. Big or small, every fireplace structure looks great. We want you to begin living in your backyard again. What better way to start than by building your own fireplace and pizza oven?

If you have any questions about anything, please let me know. I am always excited to hear from a fellow DIYer, or someone wanting to learn. You can certainly do it yourself and beautify your backyard space. I can be reached at dan@backyardflare.com and as I always say, “Happy Building”.

Dan

Outdoor Lighting

Outdoor fireplace lighting fire LED veneer — Lighting was added to the hearth and inside the storage voids.

Killin’ Time

The other day, I had to drop my car at the tire shop and because I had a few minutes to spare, I walked across the busy street to some stores. As always, I was drawn to one of my favorite stores, Lowe’s Home Improvement, and I found myself standing in the outdoor lighting aisle. If I go to Lowe’s, I almost always want to at least walk down some of my favorite aisles to see if there is anything new on the shelf. This day was no exception.

I should back up a bit and say that whenever I build any type of structure in a backyard, whether it is an outdoor fireplace or outdoor kitchen, I always look for ways to spice up the final look. One of the things that I have written on in the past is my love for outdoor lighting. It just makes a backyard, and specifically, outdoor structures, come alive at night. The shadows created and the way things look in the dark with some light are just awesome.

So, back to Lowe’s and the outdoor lighting aisle… In the past, if I needed lighting, I have just gone to the store and picked up what I needed to complete the lighting project. I have never shared with my audience how inexpensive it really is to add this great feature to your DIY outdoor fireplace or outdoor kitchen. Well, wait no more. Here we go.

Outdoor Lighting Components Explained

With most outdoor lighting, there are three main components involved. They are a power source, otherwise known as a power transformer, wire, and the lights. The transformer is a heavy cube that plugs into an outlet. Many of these transformers will turn on at dusk with photo eye technology and you simply tell it through a setting, how long you want the lights to stay on from that point. Pretty cool!

The neat part is the lights will come on automatically and shut off automatically; no work for you. They come in different wattage’s starting from around 60W to several hundred watts. For powering a structure, the smallest will be completely sufficient, especially if you’re using LEDs. A 60W transformer will sell for around $50.

The wire will hook into the transformer with screws and the wire will snake through your structure’s block work. We’ll get into the install in a different post. The wire will transfer (Direct Current – DC) low voltage as the transformer’s output to the lights, so it won’t shock you any more than holding on to a flashlight battery. It’s nothing like the power from an outlet in your house. A 50’ length of this outdoor lighting wire will cost around $20.

LED Lighting Is awesome

Lastly, the lights. Today’s technology has put LED lighting at the forefront for efficiency, longevity, and amazing power savings. LED stands for light emitting diode. An LED is a small electronic component (diode) that will glow when power is applied. No more changing incandescent bulbs, right? Can I get an amen on that one?

Outdoor fireplace lighting fire LED veneer catalina — This Catalina fireplace had lighting added to the hearth for a great look.

LED lighting fixtures are sold individually, and they can run anywhere from a few dollars on clearance to around $20 for each fixture. I add at least two LED fixtures to any structure, so it is aesthetically pleasing. Two is really all you need for a structure width of only six to eight feet. The LED fixtures will have power cord on them. This cord will connect to the wire and the connectors will pierce the wire to be powered. The best part is that each LED is around 2W to 4W so you could hook up to 30 of these 2W LEDs to a 60W transformer. Do you see the math? This is turning into an electronics training course now.

Outdoor kitchen with lighting refrigerator and bar — This DIY Tucson Grill design had lighting added around it for a finished look.

How Cheap is It Really?

If you were to add two LED lighting fixtures to a fireplace, you would be able to spend as little as $110. Now that’s a bargain when you consider the look you’ll achieve. I hope this post helped you understand how simple outdoor lighting is and how inexpensive the components are. It’s really not that complicated.

Check out Backyard Flare, LLC to learn more about building your own DIY outdoor fireplace or outdoor kitchen and peruse our gallery for great ideas in design. See what other homeowners have done.

If you have any questions about anything, please let me know. I am always excited to hear from a fellow DIYer, or someone wanting to learn more about how to beautify their backyard space. I can be reached at dan@backyardflare.com and as I always say, “Happy Building”.

Dan

DIY Outdoor Fireplace Review (2) – AZ

Let’s Take a Trip to Visit a Gorgeous Outdoor Gas Fireplace

Hello all you DIY’ers and welcome to this edition of, “That Awesome DIY Fireplace” where we introduce a DIY homeowner, tell you what state they reside in, and show you how awesome they were at building their own outdoor fireplace. We’re going to see a stunning outdoor gas fireplace in this article.

Introducing Our DIY Homeowner

We venture down the street and across the tracks from Backyard Flare headquarters to introduce homeowner Jim, who wanted a short in stature outdoor gas fireplace. Jim specifically wanted to burn natural gas. Jim was restricted to natural gas and a short finished height by his homeowner’s association due to his home’s location on the golf course. Jim’s backyard was on the 12^th tee so there is quite a view.

Jim contacted Dan at Backyard Flare and explained his fireplace design and restrictions. No sweat at all for the Backyard Flare team. Dan did a couple site visits to Jim’s backyard and they came up with a plan of action. Dan was contracted to build the fireplace, but Jim was able to save a bit of money because he helped Dan through the process …and Jim learned a lot, very quickly. It’s always a blast when homeowners can help because they learn and have a great sense of accomplishment.

Getting the Area Prepped

After the fireplace location and width was determined, a diamond blade was used to cut through the existing flagstone patio. This area was excavated and framed for the concrete slab with rebar inside the pour. An inexpensive Harbor Freight cement mixer was used which made this job relatively quick for two people.

saw cut flagstone concrete pad — Patio flagstone was cut to make way for the concrete slab.

wheelbarrow used to dump concrete slab rebar — Dan is using a wheelbarrow to dump concrete into the wood form for the concrete slab.

Once the concrete cured for a couple days, Dan and Jim started laying block in a running bond (staggered) pattern.

cinder block fireplace mortar DIY outdoor fireplace — The running bond pattern was used to build the structure.

diy outdoor fireplace with arched lintels — The firebox and storage voids were built with arched lintels made from concrete.

The firebox in the middle was sandwiched between two wood storage voids on either side. An electrical line was routed through the blocks to install a 110v outlet. This outlet was used to plug in a power transformer for the structure and backyard ground low voltage lighting.

diy outdoor gas fireplace with stucco — The fireplace was covered in a stucco finish prior to the stone veneer being applied.

level measuring tape flagstone cutting with a diamond blade — A level was used as a straight edge to mark the cuts on the flagstone.

Lot’s of Finishing Options Were Added

When the structure block work was completed, firebrick was added to the inside of the firebox.

diy outdoor gas fireplace with flagstone and stucco golf course arizona — The flagstone was added to all horizontal surfaces of the fireplace.

The natural gas line was plumbed up the backside of the structure and a shutoff valve was added inline before it was installed into the back wall of the firebox. This gas line stubbed out a few inches inside the lower right corner of the firebox. Gas tubing was added to an H pipe and a few test burns were done before anything was solidified.

The wire for the structure lighting was routed to the front of the hearth and to the inside of the storage voids, figuring out where each light would be located. The front face of the structure was adorned with a beautiful stacked stone, which was mortared in place. The remainder of the structure was covered in a smooth coat troweled stucco, which was later painted.

Natural Stone Added So Much

The horizontal surfaces were covered in a gorgeous light tan flagstone which Dan and Jim cut with a chisel method for a rougher edge. This was a bit time consuming and much slower than a saw cut front edge, but completely worth it in the end.

diy outdoor gas fireplace stacked stone golf course arizona — The finished fireplace sure makes a statement in this backyard.

With the leftover flagstone, Jim extended the flagstone patio to the far-right side of the structure and filled the joints with matching mortar. After it was pressure washed, you can’t even tell where the old flagstone patio and the new came together. Totally amazing.

A vertical piece of flagstone was added to the front of the firebox after it was chiseled to resemble a mountain range in Jim’s home state of Colorado. This piece of stone helped contain the local river rock that was added to the top of the H pipe. This rock completely hid the pipe, making it look as if the flames “originated” from the rocks.

Tying the Structure to the House Decor

For continuity in the backyard, the fireplace stucco was painted to match the house. New outdoor furniture was added to the patio and many nights have been spent eating, drinking, partying, and relaxing in the backyard. So many golfers stopped to see the fireplace and to offer kind words, complementing Jim on his design.

With the ambiance of the lighting in the voids and quick start of the natural gas in the firebox, Jim and his wife have been able to say, “hey want to have a fire?”, and enjoy it in a matter of seconds. Easy on and easy off is what Jim wanted and it turned out great.

You Ready to Build One?

We sure hope you like it too, so let us know how this DIY fireplace inspired you? Are you ready to build your masterpiece like Jim did? Even though this outdoor gas fireplace included natural gas, low voltage lighting, and chiseled flagstone, it can all be done by you too. If you have the DIY mindset, we can help you achieve greatness. We have assisted hundreds of homeowners who are weekend DIY’ers, realize their potential to build fireplaces just like Jim’s. You can do it too. Visit Backyard Flare for more information and DIY construction plans.

Thanks so much for reading about another great DIY outdoor gas fireplace build. We’ll bring you more soon, and as always …happy building.