The summer is a great time of year and surely the most popular vacation time for millions of people. But for a great many, the end of the stifling hot days and the approach of Autumn is a time of great anticipation—that’s right, fireplace season is just around the corner! Honestly, there are a lot of homeowners who specifically chose their home because of its fireplace so it is no exaggeration to say that this is a very anticipated time of year for a lot of people. But before you begin making plans for that massive pile of firewood you have been stockpiling since late spring, you better get ready for fireplace season first.

With the exception of “newbies”, all seasoned fireplace lovers already have the essentials. Fireplace tools, screens, baskets, and rugs should be standard in your hearth area by this point. These are not the things that veteran fireplace owners need to worry about when getting ready for fireplace season. Instead, it’s the small fireplace accessories you end up missing during the first couple fires of the season.

Every fireplace season should really begin with a new pair of leather work gloves. Between splitting the wood to placing it in the hearth, there are plenty of times when a pair of gloves will prevent blisters and keep your hands safe from injury. While not a large expense or a priority for many, seasoned fireplace lovers know that a good pair of gloves make for a more enjoyable, blister-free fireplace season.

Depending on how fresh your firewood happens to be, there will almost always be times when some form of kindling will come in handy. From sacks of fatwood to firestarters, there are a number of tools at your disposal to help get the fire roaring this fall. What you don’t want to happen, however, is to be frustrated when trying to start a fire. While you don’t want to burn green firewood, most firewood has some moisture in it that will make it difficult to get going. Therefore, always get ready for the fireplace season by stocking up on kindling supplies and firestarters.

Now if you take a great deal of pride in your hearth area, then it is likely that you spent good money for a quality set of fireplace tools. You know, the tools with the premium finish and accent metals! Well, these fireplace tools are indeed high quality and will last you for years and years into the future—but keeping them clean and presentable can be a real challenge especially during the fireplace season itself. This is why you may want to get ready for the fireplace season this year by buying an inexpensive black shovel, pan, and brush set. Nothing fancy—just the right tools to get the job done while leaving your premium fireplace tools for display or special occasions. This may be unnecessary in the truest sense, but you will be glad for the investment when the fireplace season is over and you have not had to continually clean your premium fireplace tools all winter long!

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Proper fireplace safety is extremely important. Even if you have been using your fireplace for years, it is important to brush up on your fire safety rules.

Here are some fireplace safety rules for both wood burning and gas fireplaces:

· Open the damper before starting a wood burning fire

· Leave flue open, even if fire is only smoldering

· Teach children about dangers of fire

· Use a chimney cap

· Do not use lighter fluid to start a fire

· Use long matches

· For gas fireplaces, light as soon as gas is turned on

· Have your chimney inspected annually

· Keep decorations and flammables away from the fire

· Never leave a wood burning fire burning while you are not there to watch after it

· Use a mesh screen with your wood burning fire, and leave glass doors open

· Do not burn trash in your fireplace

· Keep the top of your chimney and roof clear of debris like pine needles and even low hanging branches.

· Realize that artificial logs are not the same as real wood - make sure you read the instructions on an artificial log before you use it, and do not add one to a wood fire already burning.

· When done with a wood burning fire, and once the ashes have cooled, clean them out in preparation for the next fire.

· Do not use charcoal in your fireplace - doing so puts you at risk for carbon monoxide poisoning.

· If you have children, make sure that you have a guard around your gas fireplace - children can get burned not just by the fire but by the glass and metal doors surrounding the fire.

· If you have a gas fireplace, make sure that you have at least two places in which you can turn off the flow of gas, just in case one of them malfunctions for some reason.

· With a gas fireplace, you should stay aware of any unusual smells or flames - they could be a sign that your fireplace is not working properly.

Again, realize that fireplace safety is extremely important. Realize that not properly following fireplace safety guidelines could end with harm to all that you hold most dear - yourself, your children, your possessions, your home, etc.

It is most definitely worth brushing up on your fireplace safety.

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Anyone can work successfully with masonry materials for outdoor fireplace landscaping and have fun doing it. It’s true that a good size job can involve considerable labor, but with good planning the job—and the labor –can be stretched out over a period of time. A large concrete slab can be gridded (designed with a pattern of headers) so that the concrete can be mixed and poured in comparatively small batches that won’t tax your patience or your strength. With brick and block faying you can stop any time and pick up again when you’re refreshed.

The flexibility of masonry materials adds considerably to the fun of working with them; you can be imaginative and creative when tackling outdoor fireplace landscaping. A concrete slab does not have to be a hot prairie playground; the surface is not limited to “smooth” or “rough”; the color is not limited to cement gray. Brick and masonry units, thanks to new developments, are no longer prosaic, uninspiring building materials.

The truth about an amateur project is that the results can be every bit as good as a job done by a professional. Both in appearance and structurally, the job you do can rate A-l on the building inspector’s card. There will be a difference in time due to the fact that the pro can work faster, but the amateur need not worry about .speed—the end result is more important than the time needed to accomplish it. The mixture for concrete, actually an artificial stone, consists of a blend of fine and coarse aggregates, each piece of which is completely surrounded and held to its mates by hardened Portland cement paste. A chemical reaction, which occurs ideally due to favorable temperatures and the presence of moisture while curing, causes the paste to harden. The water to cement ratio is probably the most important factor as far as the strength of mix is concerned. Too much water will result in a thin, diluted cement-paste that will be weak and porous when it hardens. It will not bond the aggregates nor will it be watertight. The correct water-cement paste, and this is important, produces a mix with maximum strength which is necessary for outdoor fireplace landscaping. The amateur will often use more water than necessary because it makes a more fluid mix that flows easily into the forms. Such a project may look O.K. to begin with (although there will probably be finishing problems due to excess moisture), but it will eventually be discovered to lack strength and durability.

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