Am I setting myself up for a fire?


 
B

B Lauchnor

TVWBB Member
So I'm not sure what to post this under but here it goes.

I want to build a BBQ shack for the back yard. I want it to look old, south, shack. I have some pretty good ideas but want to know if the overall plan is a mistake.

I want to build basically a 8x10 shed with lumber. Frame it all up and do creative things with the exterior. Really though I'm a bit concerned with putting a WSM and gasser grill inside a wood building. I know I can take precautions for ventilation so I don't kill myself with CO but what I'm worried about is a spark burning the place down while I'm asleep.

Now I don't really don't think this is a problem because I can tile the interior floor and use drywall on the walls and ceiling to eliminate fire hazard but I really want to know if this is just an accident waiting to happen? Am I being naive, paranoid or cautious?

Thanks,
Brad
 
I guess my first question is whether you should be enclosing the shack enough to worry about sparks hitting the walls in the first place ?

I had been thinking about building something similar, but wasn't planning on covering the walls other than maybe a half-wall starting a foot or so off the ground and running waist high to give a bit of a windbreak and make it less of an eyesore if I had junk piled up inside. In winter I plan to hang a tarp down the windward side to prevent it filling up with snow but take the tarp off whenever anything is burning.

From a practical POV I keep wanting to combine the BBQ shack with a wood shed but that makes for some potential disasters that I don't even want to think about. Sort of like the "gas, oil and road flares" box in the back of my truck
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One of my biggest concerns is wind. We get some crazy high winds off the hill nearby and it funnels down beside my house where I do all my cooking. So the major reason for complete enclosure is wind year-round and snow in the winter.
 
Depending on the lay of the land, you could use a concrete base for the floor to mitigate concerns of hot coals falling out. They make those tamp down forms you put over the concrete and tamp down to press in a shape. I've seen it done with wooden plank shapes, but I don't where to get them. Use concrete dye and those forms and it would look like an old wooden floor.

You could also make rather large tilt up sections in the sides. Something from about 1/2 of the wall height up with a hindge at the top. Tilt them up and out and you have more than enough air flow and the tilted up walls form a rain shed as well to help prevent any rain from blowing in on you during the cook. Another plus is you can open them all the way or partially to counter the effects of the wind as needed. Just make them out of wood to match the siding and it will look like a solid wall when down. Use a double split door on the entry (top and bottom half swing independant) and you can have it open on all 4 sides when cooking if you want. You could even build in a counter area at the bottom of the tilting opening as a leaning or serving counter. The tilted up sides would provide shade to your guest as well.

That way it's wide open for cooking and you can still lock it all up tight for security later. Should have plenty of room for some cabinets to store you accessories in and a counter for food prep as well.

Oh, one last point. I would also put a vent in the peak of the roof as the smoke will tend to rise and tend to fill your roof area even with full open sides. I have a covered 10'x30' porch with a sloped ceiling and even though it's open on 3 sides, the smoke still collects up top.
 
I think you're being cautious. To build something like that here I would have to hae a building permit and code would dictate some safety precautions. I've thought about it and, if I ever do it I would do a poured concrete floor and concrete block half walls with windows on the other half. I thought about the smoke and came up with two ideas. A ridge vent and an attic turbine to take the smoke out of the peak ceiling. You know people used to have wood burning stoves in their wood houses and as long as they kept something non-flammable on the floor under the stove and the stove away from the walls they did OK.
 
First. I wouldn't use DW or even green board on a smoke shack. They will collect a certain amount of moisture on an exterior build which will lead to mold or mildew.
Then you have to consider the amount of smoke grease or grime that certainly over time will cover the inside of your wall panels. Me.. I would line the inside framing with concrete backer boards, than face it with FRP panels. Excellent flame spread, and washable.
There was a thread about 3 yrs ago where someone was thinking on using his WSM in his garage. Someone chimed in that some folks on the BGE forums use a cheap kitchen exhaust hood to ventilate any gasses out the side wall.
OBTW keep the back of that gasser well away from any exterior walls!!

Tim
 
Timothy-

Using concrete backer boards is a great idea. Help me out, I'm not familiar with FRP panels. Are they something my local Home Depot carries?

Ventilation isn't much of a worry for me as I am going to put several roof (attic) vents in the structure. My biggest concern was an errant spark from the WSM or the heat from the gas grill.

Thanks for the input folks.
 
B after awhile the interior of the shed is going to be black from using the WSM and gasser in there even with lots of ventilation so make sure whatever you use on the walls is washable.
I set up my kettle in the open just outside my back door in the winter and every spring I have to pressure wash the siding to get rid of the build up from the kettle.
 
I was considering the corrugated iron for the exterior and had considered it for the interior.

Thanks for the input guys I think I can get what I want out of this project. I appreciate the input.

Thanks,
Brad
 
Hmm..I'm not liking just using a couple of passive roof vents for ventilation. They only require an 8"x8" hole and that's not a lot of area. Than they also have a fine mesh screen (to keep the bugs out) which will get clogged up with smoke&grease residue.
I keep my WSM in my garage, and on occasion when it's raining I will set it right inside my opened 16' overhead door. I have a continuous ridge vent, and a side service door and also a 3'x4' operating window. And even with all of that the smoke that builds up towards the roof trusses is overpowering and dangerous.
I use a ceiling fan to force the smoke out the overhead door, and give me some good cross ventilation. Something that size would be overkill for your shed, but you should consider some type of powered roof vent along with a combustible (fresh air) intake set at your floor line.

Tim
 
Tim-

I can certainly put in a powered roof vent. I know there are attic vents with solar powered fans. I am going to be running power to the shed so I will have a lot of options for venting.

The vast majority of the time the doors on the shed will be opened. I only plan on cooking with them closed when we get high winds and to help with temp during the winter.

Thanks,
Brad
 
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