Wood Cast
Is Cast Iron A Good Choice For An Outdor Fireplace?
When choosing a wood burning outdoor fireplace, there are many styles and materials to chose from. A cast iron outdoor fireplace can be relatively inexpensive compared to some made from other metals, but cast iron also has some disadvantages. Cast iron is heavy, it rusts and it can stain any surface you put it on.
Although cast iron outdoor fireplaces do have these disadvantages, they are not always critical and sometimes the advantages of cast iron can outweigh the disadvantages. Cast iron is relatively inexpensive in material costs and to cast. Iron is usually cast thick, which makes it heavy, but also very durable.
A cast iron outdoor fireplace that is exposed to weather and fire will no doubt rust, but with a thick walled fire pit, that is not always a problem. With thick cast iron, it can take a very long time before it ever rusts through. If you want to slow the rust, you can keep it coated with a heat resistant pain. The forest service and other campgrounds often use cast iron fire pits and they can last for decades with little or no maintenance.
Rust will also stain just abut any surface you put it on. If you want a fireplace on your patio or deck, cast iron may not be the best choice. If you have a wood deck, a fireplace in general is not always the best choice since fire doesn’t alway distinguish the difference between firewood and deck wood. For those who want to have their outdoor fireplace on the ground, where they belong, the rust will probably not be a problem.
Since iron is cast thick, a cast iron outdoor fireplace will usually be heavy. If you want a fireplace that is portable that you can take camping with you, iron may not be the best choice. But when it comes to outdoor fire pits, heavy is not always a bad thing. If you want the fireplace to stay in one place, heavy can be a good thing, once you get it there. Cast iron is not going to blow away in a wind storm the way a sheet metal fireplace might. Also, when your envious neighbors or the punks down the street decide they want your fireplace more than you do, it is going to be more difficult for them to acquire it from you without you knowing about it.
A cast iron outdoor fireplace can have some disadvantages, but for many cases they are a good choice and will work just fine for a long time. And cast iron has an appearance that just goes incredibly well with fire.
Learn more about how to choose the right outdoor wood burning fireplaces.
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Learn about firewood storage and firewood measurements.
IGN Weekly ‘Wood – Walking Dead & Superman Cast Details – IGN Weekly ‘Wood: 06.16.11
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