Owners of a private house are trying to ennoble the site so that it is as comfortable as possible to spend time with family and friends. A properly designed barbecue area in the country will be a great place to relax, especially if you choose the right place and allocate the optimal area. It is important to choose good building materials, furniture and accessories. If there is no experience, following simple instructions, you can do a lot with your own hands.

What rules are recommended to follow when choosing a place for a barbecue area in the country

A place of rest in the country will be convenient and comfortable only if you correctly think through all the nuances of placement, configuration and design. The allocated zone should be not only comfortable and pleasant, but also safe at the same time. For these reasons, construction is recommended to start with the right choice of location.

Before you arrange a recreation area in the country, you should pay attention to the remoteness of the site from other buildings and outbuildings. You need to understand that the barbecue area is considered not only a fire hazardous place, but also a territory that is characterized by increased smoke. If smoke enters the windows of living rooms, it will not only be unpleasant, but also dangerous to health. Therefore, it is recommended to move the place for cooking as far as possible from solid buildings. At the same time, one should not forget about neighboring houses in order to avoid conflicts.

The next moment is the choice of a calm place. To make it comfortable for vacationers and there is no chance of hot coals blowing up, the site must be well protected from the wind. Otherwise, the wind can not only provoke a fire, but also significantly extend the cooking time.

To protect the barbecue area from gusts of wind, it is advised to equip it on the leeward side of the site. When this is not possible, the installation is carried out behind any buildings that reduce the effect of wind — behind a fence, vegetation or a wall of another building. In this case, the optimal height of the protective wall is 150 cm or more.

Helpful advice! If the recreation area in the country house with a barbecue is located in a dissected area, then to organize the space it is recommended to choose a hollow or other negative form of relief, where gusty wind will not interfere with the rest process.

An important component of the arrangement of the barbecue area in the country is the aesthetics of the territory chosen for the design. If possible, it is better to place the brazier away from the barnyard, neighboring plot and outbuildings. If this is unrealistic to implement, the refinement can be done independently. To do this, it is recommended to use beautiful flower beds, hedges or other elements of landscape design. Many people prefer to arrange the border of the local area and the landscape zone to organize a recreation area.

In order to create greater comfort, the project of a recreation area in the country should be supplemented with convenient paths and properly organized lighting. It is important to provide access to water here, at least cold, so that you do not have to constantly run to the main kitchen. If children often rest in the country, it is important to equip a play area that will be clearly visible from the barbecue.

How to separate the recreation area in the country from the garden and other elements of the site

After the optimal place for the construction of the barbecue area has been accurately determined, it is recommended to take care of the zoning of the territory. If you look at the photo of the projects of barbecue areas in the country, you can pay attention to the fact that most often the working area and the rest area are separated from each other using various options.

The simplest and most aesthetic way of zoning a site is a hedge. In plant nurseries today you can find a large selection of various annual or perennial flowers that beautifully wrap around any obstacles. Thanks to this ability, with the help of plants, a unique, picturesque hedge is created, which not only plays the role of zoning, but also decorates the barbecue area.

Important! When choosing the type of plants for hedges, you need to consider the degree of illumination of the area, which will affect growth rate and fertility. If you choose coniferous plants for the hedge, then, in addition to creating an attractive appearance, the recreation area will be filled with a pleasant aroma of pine needles.

It is not necessary to use living plantings to allocate a recreation area. In the photo of the barbecue areas, you can see that many people build beautiful fences for this purpose, independently made of metal, brick, stone, wood, or a combination of these materials. Fences made of bamboo look unusually beautiful. When decorating a barbecue area in a country house with your own hands, it is important to use materials that will be in perfect harmony with the overall design of the territory.

The main types of barbecue areas for private houses

In the understanding of most people, the brazier is considered a large brazier, shaped like a wide bowl with a lid. To date, for greater convenience, a barbecue is called a variety of devices used for cooking meat, fish, vegetables and other products by roasting over coals. Therefore, there are a huge number of different projects for barbecue areas, which differ in the way they are arranged and built. The most commonly used building materials for construction are:

• brick;
• metal;
• stone.

Among the main types of structures are the following:

• stationary and semi-stationary;
• portable;
• folding.

If you look at photos of projects for brazier zones, you can often see an open type of construction when the brazier is located in the open air — directly on the ground or on a simple foundation. This option is considered popular due to the fact that the arrangement of such a zone will require a minimum amount of finance and time. Significant disadvantages of this design are the dependence on weather conditions and the need to create additional elements for bad weather.

If it was decided to organize an open barbecue, in this case it is better to give preference to portable or collapsible barbecues made of metal. Considering a photo of how to equip a barbecue area in a country house, you can pay attention to the fact that an open structure is most often installed on a concrete or brick site where a stationary stove is located.

The covered brazier in the yard is located in most cases under a canopy, next to which there is a table and seating places are equipped. The canopy is a semi-closed gazebo or structure on supports; glazing is generally not used. It is recommended to have an indoor grill in the backyard. In this case, in addition to a collapsible barbecue, it is permissible to install a stationary structure.

What are the types of gazebos with a barbecue area, depending on their location

Universal mobile. The convenience of creating a portable barbecue area lies in the fact that, depending on the circumstances, it is easy to move it to any other convenient place on the site. This option is considered temporary, it is installed at the time of the main work on the arrangement of the site. Some even prefer to temporarily rent a barbecue area in case of a holiday.

Patio. The design is a fenced area located in the backyard of the house, often open. For convenience, the back wall is part of the fence or house. If there are no other structures nearby, the zone is supplemented with a lattice or green spaces. For the patio, it is important to purchase special outdoor furniture that does not deteriorate under the influence of rain or the scorching sun. If desired, the design can be supplemented with a canopy in the form of a large umbrella, as can often be seen in the photo of barbecue areas in the country with your own hands.

Veranda. With such an organization, the barbecue area is protected from bad weather from all sides. In such an extension, many build a reliable hearth with a chimney, and some even build a bath next to the barbecue area, which will make the rest even more diverse. A covered veranda with a seating area allows you to install solid massive furniture here.

Helpful information! The veranda is considered an integral part of the main building. Therefore, when organizing a recreation area here, furniture and decoration should be selected based on the overall design of the house in order to get a complete picture.

Mangal zone in the country: features of creating a project

Before starting work on the preparation, it is recommended to preview photos of projects for mangal zones in the country, many of which can be found in the public domain on the network. This will allow you to determine the type of construction and not forget about important details. Of course, if you have enough experience, you can develop a project yourself. Otherwise, it is better to seek help from specialists.

It is the presence of a finished project that will allow not only rational use of the budget allocated for construction, but also avoid minor mistakes in the process of construction work. Without planning, it is most likely impossible to create a durable and high-quality object that will decorate the site for a long time.

Before choosing a brazier zone project, you need to decide on the type of construction in order to understand what it will be — open or closed. It is from this criterion that the amount of material used, the scale of the work and, accordingly, the cost of the finished zone will depend. The open area provides for the location of the barbecue directly on the lawn or on a previously prepared basis.

The closed type of gazebo requires the investment of a large amount of time and effort, because in this case it will be necessary to perform a significant amount of work:

• building a foundation;
• fixing supports;
• canopy installation;
• the construction of one or more walls to protect against wind.

Of course, it will take a little more time to build a closed barbecue area, but it’s nice to relax in such a structure, regardless of weather conditions. As for determining the optimal area required for installing a brazier, one should start from the dimensions of the stove and the number of people who most often gather for gatherings. In addition to the stove, in the recreation area it is required to consider the placement of other elements, including:

• place of storage of means for kindling a fire;
• table for cooking and cutting products;
• dinner table;
• seating areas with chairs or benches.

Helpful advice! The optimal area for arranging a barbecue area for a family of 4-5 people is 5-6 squares. If you plan to often hold crowded events, you should increase the size by 2 times, but only if the size of the summer cottage allows.

Features of creating the foundation of the mangal zone with your own hands

Elementary open areas are usually performed without preliminary organization of the foundation, because a straight open lawn is often used instead. Nevertheless, when creating a project for a brazier zone, it must be taken into account that the mass of a stove or an overall solid brazier can reach several hundred kilograms, especially when brick was used for construction. If you install all the parts simply on the ground, then over time, subsidence of the soil is likely, due to which cracks may appear on the finished structure.

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Advantages of products, varieties of models, installation of the structure, recommendations for the manufacture and selection of materials.

To prevent this from happening, when creating a project for a barbecue area made of bricks, you first need to consider the type of foundation and prepare the site. Even if a flat and compacted area is used, it is still impossible to avoid the accumulation of dirt, which will be problematic to get rid of. Therefore, in any case, it is better to use one of the popular methods for arranging the zone:

• stone paving;
• brick finishing;
• pouring concrete.

If you plan to operate the building for as long as possible, experienced builders recommend building a combined type foundation. With this design, a monolithic slab is used for the hearth, and a columnar or tape base is used for the construction of walls. Among the main advantages of building a combined foundation are:

1. Financial savings. Pouring a monolithic base for the entire zone will be quite expensive, while such costs are not considered appropriate.
2. Faster erection. It is completely optional to make a reinforced foundation for the entire recreation area, because during use the load is distributed unevenly.

The main stages of creating a foundation and a barbecue area with your own hands

To build a barbecue area made of metal or brick is considered the simplest task, which the owner can handle without much experience, but who wants to equip the area on his own. Whatever type of base is chosen, the step-by-step construction instruction will look like this:

1. At the first stage of creating a barbecue area with your own hands in the country, measurements of the brazier are carried out, the data obtained are transferred to the site allocated for construction. At the same time, it is important to add at least 20 cm additionally on each side.
2. Depending on the type of foundation, additional work is carried out: for a strip foundation, a trench is made along the perimeter, and for a monolithic foundation, the selected area is cleared of the upper soil layer. In both cases, the bottom should be well compacted. The depth of the base is selected based on the planned load.
3. The prepared bottom is covered with a 5 cm layer of sand, which is then covered with rubble at least 10 cm thick. Each subsequent layer also needs to be well compacted.
4. Formwork is created. For greater strength, a reinforcing mesh is laid on compacted gravel and sand, which, for reliability, is poured with cement diluted with a significant amount of water.
5. At the next stage, a waterproofing layer is laid. Here, roofing material is considered the best option in terms of price-quality ratio.
6. At the final stage of work, the preparation of the concrete mixture and the subsequent pouring are carried out. If the project plans to build a massive and heavy brick brazier, it is better to use more reliable cement of the M400 or M500 brand; for simpler and lighter buildings, you can take cheaper material — M100 and M200.

Important! Concrete is poured in one go. In this case, it is necessary to remove air bubbles using a metal rod. Do not forget to regularly use the building level during construction.

As for the brazier, a product that has the shape of the letter «P» can be considered standard. The most common sizes:

• 90 cm — width and depth;
• 100 cm — height.

To create a barbecue area made of bricks, you will need a full-bodied ceramic building material, and you can also use SHA-8 fireclay bricks for this purpose. When performing brickwork for the first five rows, you will need to purchase or make your own sand-cement mortar (3: 1). All subsequent rows can be fixed with a clay-sand mixture.

Based on personal preferences and wishes, side brick walls are additionally erected for cooking barbecue. For more comfortable use of the recreation area, it is recommended to supplement the brazier with a chimney, then it will be possible to free the area from excessive smoke. However, in this case, the experience of special brickwork is required.

If you look at photos of do-it-yourself mangal zones, you can pay attention to the fact that the oven is complemented by an oven, which is used to create various dishes or dry fruits. Experienced owners in the chimney mount structures for smoking meat or fish.

Installing a brazier in the country: how to choose the right product

For the first time, barbecue grills began to be used in the Caucasus. In translation, the word means «a box of coals», which very accurately describes the main purpose of the structure. Depending on the features of the application, barbecues are divided into the following types:

1. Collapsible or mobile. Most often, such a barbecue area is performed in a metal cottage and is a box with legs. The walls of the structure, if necessary, are removed and folded into a special case that you can take with you to nature or move to a convenient place.
2. Portable. They are also made of metal, but unlike the first option, they do not fold, while they differ in small dimensions and weight, which makes it easy to move the brazier around the site.
3. Stationary. They represent a solid, dimensional structure. Many people create such a barbecue area with their own hands from brick, stone, metal, or by combining these materials. In this case, it is required to equip a solid foundation, because the furnace is heavy.
4. Electric grills. The devices are equipped with a special mechanism that rotates the skewers, which allows you to get an evenly fried product without human intervention. In appearance, the design is similar to an electric oven or grill. The main plus is mobility, but the absence of a specific aroma, as when cooking on open coals, can be considered a significant disadvantage.

Many people think that a barbecue and a brazier are one and the same, but the devices differ in design from each other. There are two grills inside the barbecue box: meat, fish or vegetables are laid out on the upper tier, and hot coals are on the lower tier. Barbecue, like barbecue, is classified as follows:

1. Portable. Thanks to the removable grate, the brazier fits easily into a small case.
2. Mobile. They have the form of a trolley equipped with wheels, which makes it easy to move the structure around the site. The device is not disassembled, in the lower part there is a tray designed to store plates, pots or prepared firewood. The brazier itself is installed in the upper part on four supports.
3. In the form of a boiler. This option is convenient in that the heat inside is distributed evenly and remains for a longer period. This allows you to use the design to bake large pieces of meat that cannot be fried on an open fire.

Helpful advice! Ideally equipped can be considered a barbecue area with a cauldron and barbecue. It is this set that allows you to cook a variety of dishes.

How to make a recreation area in the country with your own hands from improvised materials

Resting on bare ground is considered relevant only in the case of a picnic or barbecue. In order to make it convenient to use the recreation area, in addition to arranging the foundation, the site must be covered with a protective material that increases comfort. For these purposes, you can take the remains of building materials that are easy to find in the country: solid or broken brick, stone, paving slabs. In retail outlets, you can buy parquet for the street or decking. To get a complete picture, it is recommended to make the base from the material that was used to create garden paths.

When studying photos of gazebos with a barbecue area, you can pay attention to the fact that paving slabs are most often used to equip the site. A variety of options and materials allows you to make a unique design of the barbecue area that fits perfectly into the surrounding exterior. The main advantages of tiles:

• frost resistance;
• resistance to ultraviolet rays;
• the possibility of using both indoors and outdoors;
• the ability to pass water through the seams, which prevents the formation of puddles.

The popularity of paving slabs is also due to the fact that you can make an attractive recreation area in the country with your own hands and not spend a lot of time. First, as for creating the foundation, you will need to carry out simple preparatory work:

• remove the top soil layer;
• remove excess debris and stones;
• install pegs around the perimeter and stretch a rope through them;
• level the ground;
• compact the site well.

If the soil is too loose, moisten it with water. You need to understand that the better the foundation is tamped, the less likely it is to sag and crack the tiles. A drainage is placed on top of the leveled soil, made of a mixture of sand and gravel, which must be distributed symmetrically.

From above, on crushed stone or on a sand-cement mortar, paving slabs are laid. The first row begins to be laid from the edge — along the stretched cord “away from you”. If the material does not fit or rests against the curb, it must be cut with a grinder. Pressing the tiles is carried out using a mallet. At the final stage, the seams are poured with a sand-cement mixture and filled with water. After drying, the seams are rubbed with quartz sand. Below you can see how well the barbecue zones made of bricks, complemented by a paving slab base, fit together in the photo.

If fragments of natural stone are used to create a platform, it must be borne in mind that the material has numerous irregularities on the surface in which water accumulates. Therefore, under a natural stone, you need to make a concrete screed, and fix the material on top with a cement mortar or a special construction adhesive.

Using garden parquet or decking for a recreation area in the country

The garden parquet is a square-shaped wooden module. Another name for the material is decking. It consists of small slats laid on a flat base. Garden parquet differs from decking boards only in shape. Both materials can be used to decorate outdoor terraces, verandas, recreation areas and even garden paths. This board is characterized by strength and durability, tolerates moisture and temperature changes well. The main material from which the garden board is made is Siberian larch and tropical wood.

Thanks to the peculiarities of production and the application of special impregnating solutions, the board acquires special performance characteristics. It does not deform, does not dry out and does not swell after getting wet. Another advantage is the absence of the likelihood of the appearance of fungus or mold, which not only spoil the appearance of the board, but also negatively affect the consumer qualities of building materials.

Garden parquet modules are laid on a leveled and compacted soil base, on top of which crushed stone, gravel or concrete is poured. If you use only a sand cushion, the coating will quickly sag, which will spoil the appearance of the entire barbecue area.

Important! To prevent the germination of grass and other weeds, no matter what type of material will be used to create the platform, a special fabric is laid directly on the ground.

Garden parquet modules are interlocked with each other with a special locking connection, while the terrace board is laid on pre-installed logs and fixed with self-tapping screws or other fasteners. The presented selection of photos of recreation areas in the country, made from street boards with their own hands, allows us to evaluate the attractiveness of this design method.

Construction of a canopy and zoning of the mangal zone in the country: photos of finished objects

Supports for gazebos are made of either wooden or metal rods. If you want to create a durable and solid building, then the supports are made of brick or stone. It is these buildings that will please the eye for the longest period and will not require repair work. The canopy is made taking into account personal preferences and the weather conditions of the region. In general, canopies are divided into the following groups:

1. Rigid. In this case, slate, metal profiles, tiles or copper sheets are used as flooring. Thanks to the rafter base, the floorings are characterized by increased strength.
2. Soft. Flooring materials characterized by flexibility. They are applied to the frame by fusing. This includes bitumen, polymers and polycarbonates, as well as the cheapest option, such as tarpaulins.

The recreation area in most cases is divided into two zones:

• cooking;
• dining room.

Before you make a recreation area in the country with your own hands, you need to study the basic recommendations:

• you should not install a barbecue closer than 2 meters to the dining table;
• it is better to mount the brazier in a corner or along the far wall of the barbecue area;
• when arranging the site, you need to make sure that the dining area does not block the approach to the barbecue;
• it is better to install a table and places to sit behind it on the side of the entrance to the gazebo;
• if you place a recreation area with a barbecue in the patio, you will be able to reliably hide from the wind behind the walls of the house;
• in order not to depend on weather conditions, the brazier should be installed under a canopy;
• by placing the table along one of the walls of the main building, it will be possible to easily solve the issue with a canopy.

You can pay attention that in many photos, barbecue areas made of metal or other material are located in the area intended for recreation. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the design of the barbecue, because tables and sofas are located around the brazier, which attracts attention. To separate the site from the main area, plants are most often planted around the perimeter or decorative wicker nets are installed, which serve as additional protection from prying eyes. Recreation areas located on the banks of natural or even artificial reservoirs look unusually beautiful.

How to choose furniture, choose the right lighting and other decor

The choice of furniture in the recreation area is carried out depending on the type of construction. In a situation where there is no canopy in the barbecue area and it is installed directly in the open air, it is better to purchase folding garden furniture, which, in case of rain, is easy to hide in the nearest utility building. If this is a closed area, well protected from the weather, it is better to pick up massive furniture made of wood, and wicker rattan sets also look beautiful. The standard and simplest furniture set consists of the following items:

• table;
• chairs;
• shops.

It is best to supplement such a minimal set with a deck chair, hammock, rocking chair. Hanging cocoon chairs are also gaining popularity now, which add zest to any interior.

In most cases, barbecue gatherings drag on until late in the evening, so good lighting should be arranged in advance, allowing you not to depend on the time of day. It is desirable, in addition to the main light, to consider the presence of decorative dim lighting. For this, spotlights, ribbons, wall light sources or lanterns on poles are useful.

Helpful advice! To save on electricity, it is better to use lamps equipped with solar panels in the recreation area in the country.

As for the styling of the barbecue area, there are such concepts:

1. Patio arbors are most often decorated in Italian or Greek style using stone or wood for decoration. Suitable compact furniture and flowers in pots.
2. The modern interior can be emphasized with the help of metal and glass elements, complemented by well-chosen lighting.
3. Barbecue areas with a bath are decorated in the traditional Russian style. Massive wooden furniture and wooden vertical surfaces are used.
4. Country style prefers the use of wood for decoration and forged decorative elements hung on the walls.

A properly executed and decorated barbecue area in the country will allow you to diversify your country leisure and distract from gardening. It is not difficult to build a structure with your own hands, even if you set out to build a capital building. If you equip a full-fledged recreation area, you will be able to find entertainment for all family members and guests.