As a maintenance, Les Foyers Feu Ardent recommends covering your fireplace for the winter period. You will therefore learn why and how to properly prepare your outdoor fireplace for winter.
After having spent a great summer and taking advantage of the mild temperatures for all your activities, autumn takes its place with its cooler temperatures, then inevitably comes the cold temperatures that winter offers. Before the first snows, this is when we think about carrying out the tidying up and preparation tasks on our terrain. The same goes for your outdoor fireplace, which you will need to prepare and cover for the cold season.
Why protect your outdoor fireplace in winter?
What you will need.
Preparing your fireplace.
Protecting your Feu Ardent fireplace.
In summary.
Why protect your outdoor fireplace in winter?
Although your outdoor fireplace is made of concrete, and therefore resistant, it has a porous texture due to the aggregates that compose it; especially volcanic stone. By being porous, water can easily seep into your blocks. In summer, nothing changes. But in winter, water turns to ice and it is precisely the phenomenon of freezing and thawing of this water repeatedly in the blocks that we want to avoid.
(In fact, this applies to all types of concrete outdoor fireplaces. We don’t realize it, but they are all porous, even if on a smaller scale.)
What you will need.
A completely dry fireplace ;
A good-sized tarp* ;
A rope of good length ;
Dry wood (optional).
* A tarp is a large woven canvas that is used to cover and protect various objects from the elements. Usually made of polyethylene, you will find it commonly on the market in different sizes and qualities.
Preparing your fireplace.
Before the first snowfall, on a beautiful fall day when your fireplace will be completely dry, do a little cleaning of your fireplace. Remove and store away all its metal accessories (cast iron plate, slides, spark arrester, log holder, etc.). Then empty the hearth of its ashes, dead leaves, etc. The purpose of this is to remove any source that could hold moisture. Then place a few dry logs in the hearth of the fireplace. These will absorb moisture if it does build up inside the packaging you are going to create in the next step.
Protecting your Feu Ardent fireplace.
When the cleaning and preparation of your Feu Ardent fireplace have been completed, take your tarp and completely cover it. Hold your tarp securely in place with a rope of good length. The better you tie your tarp in place, the better it will withstand strong winds until the end of the season.
In summary.
Before the first snows, by doing a little cleaning of your fireplace, either by removing the dead leaves and ashes which have accumulated there, then by covering it with a tarpaulin, it is possible to counter the phenomenon of freeze and thaw in keeping your fireplace dry. Thanks to this simple preventive maintenance, you will keep your outdoor fireplace in good condition for long time!
