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I’ve inherited a partly fallen in old brick table/firepit area in our garden of “varying” quality. There’s a void in the middle which has previously been used for burning garden waste but I’d love to make it into something more appealling.
1) idea one was to convert it into a pizza oven by building a slab and arched roof using discarded bricks from the same source (the whole apparatus was repurposed brick originally) but I don’t want to spend crazy amounts - anyone got experience of what would be an economic approach to doing this?
2) other ideas welcome 🤗 just building a bench top across the voice probably easiest but not that exciting.
available “free” materials = big pile of bricks with various bits of mortar attached
Hello @kitfriendesq
Thank you for sharing your question about building a pizza oven.
What a fantastic opportunity to revamp this BBQ cooker. The former owner must have thrown their hands up and just used the spot to burn garden refuse. Looking at your set-up, I'm thinking there are two ways to update the look of your BBQ set.
First, I suggest adding more bricks at the bottom to raise it 3/4 of the way up. This can serve as the base for charcoal or woodfire, I suggest adding extra bricks at the very top to serve as edge holders for a Matador Cast Iron Hot Plate - Black 240 x 480mm, Jumbuck Cast Iron Hot Plate - Black 398 x 415mm or Char-Griller BBQ Spare Part Cast Iron Grill.
In regards to the pizza oven, it requires fire rated bricks and mortar, ordinary bricks will not be sufficient as the temperatures inside the oven will crack and split them apart. There is a Tusk Living La Famiglia Woodfire Pizza Oven Kit that you can build yourself. But if you build this oven, you'll need to seal off the top part of the BBQ set and turn it into a table.
Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 @Nailbag and @Adam_W for their recommendations.
If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.
Eric
Afternoon @kitfriendesq
I have also wanted a pizza oven / bread oven for years 
Tho the prerequisits are a little scary. As @EricL mentioned, normal bricks cant be used as they will crack and crumble with the heat and there goes your hard work. Firebricks if you can lay your hands on them are the way to go. Raising the bench whichever way with the excess bricks you have would be a good start to making it useful in a number of ways.
Different cooking methods you could use on one side and also have a smaller prebuilt pizza oven (Flat and maybe as thick as your hand) depeneds on how many pizzas you want cooking at the same time. Id also factor in a chimeny or chimeneys depending on what type of cooking area you are using as there is nothing worse then being smoked out I like the vietnamese chanel bbq where things on skewers are roatated over a chanel with coals underneath. And now my mind is flicking though all the types of BBQs I like
I have kind of the same thinking in my yard, only difference I want a fire to heat water and if possible double use so i can bake pizza/bread. I do like duplicate systems and if they can be worked together all the better. Do you have a material you are considering for the base of a pizza oven/bench? A concrete slab would be a solid start to being able to use a few ideas. Definently I would include reo in it, that way you keep open the ability to build that pizza oven if you want. Insulating the bottom of the pizza oven with firebricks so the heat dosnt crack the concrete slab is also something to consider.
Dave
Thanks @Dave-1 @EricL - love the collaboration on these forums!
Loving the ideas - as it's very much a 'make the most of something that's there' I'm wondering if finding one of the many second hand ovens on facebook in this sort of style https://www.bunnings.com.au/jumbuck-torino-woodfire-pizza-oven_p3180885 and then building a upcycled brick surround might be a good economic approach. I like the IDEA of going the full hog with firebricks or one of the kits but it jumps rapidly into being a proper investment 😝
Very quickly mocked up but something along these lines... (lots to resolve - how to prevent water ingress around chimmney, would heat be too much for brick arch if not firebricks etc)
Afternoon @kitfriendesq
Saving $$$ is what its about that way you get to spend those extra dollars on some other reno! lol I "spend" my dollars around 3 times on average before I even purchase anything The air gap sounds good and the bech is solid Good places to start.
Take a bunch of photos as I think it will be an interesting project
Dave
Following on all the advice, I went ahead with our “cheap but appropriate for likely usage” option upcycling the bricks, building a sacrificial arch support from pallets and plywood. The brick work is definitely a learning experience and I knew the finish wouldn’t be perfect 😂
Everything survived the first fire nicely and the support burnt away as planned.
upgrade plans:
- tidy up mortar
- some sort of split door to contain ash and control air flow
- mesh on the chimney to catch airborn debris whilst letting smoke out
- probably some sort of internal shelf and we can experiment with cooking
Afternoon @kitfriendesq
Now that is an oven! 
love it and you could cook a whole sheep in there! It looks so warm (freezing here atm lol)
I do like how you have that edge for a shelf Nice forward thinking and I really like the curved arch brickwork. Are you planning on build a grill for the fire to rest on? (To give it air to breath)
Would be perfect in this weather!
Thank you for the follow up pics
Dave
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