Manufacturing portal for electric fireplace

There is a certain sense in making a portal for the electric fire yourself. In addition to fairly substantial savings of money, you have the opportunity to show imagination and design a portal in any style, and even perfectly fit it into the interior of the room in which you plan to install a fireplace. Besides, making a portal for electric fire your own hands is not as difficult as it seems. It can literally be built from the “rubbish” left after the renovation of an apartment or room!

Required materials

The basis for the portal can be made from anything: drywall, plywood, brick, stone, chipboard, real wood and other available materials. And after all the appropriate way to issue and stylize, using facing tiles, artificial stone, wood, foam plastic, furniture boards, pebbles, shells and other decorative materials.

The portal for the electrofireplace from gypsum board is the most optimal variant for the quality of performance and cost, so in this article we will look at it. In this case, the frame for fixing the drywall can be guides made of metal or wood, fastened together metal corners and self-tapping screws. In addition, for the manufacture of the portal from the drywall with your own hands, you will need:

• putty;
• primer;
• mesh for seams;
• special glue;
• facing material.

As you can see, all materials are quite accessible and it is quite easy to work with them with the necessary tools. 

Instruments

The design of an electrofireplace from gypsum cardboard is so simple that it does not require any special tools. Even the screwdriver from the list below can be replaced with a conventional screwdriver. Required tool:

• stationery knife;
• screwdriver;
• scissors for metal;
• spatula;
• sandpaper.

Preparation for work 

Before starting work, carefully select place in the roomwhere an electric fireplace will be installed. It should take into account all the nuances and most importantly - the ability to directly connect the fireplace to the electrical network without any extensions and adapters (especially if an electric fireplace with heating function).

A large fireplace should be placed along a long wall in a spacious room. If the room is small, then it makes sense to consider the option with a corner portal for electric fire.

If you are making your portal for the first time, we recommend starting with a simple design without unnecessary "bells and whistles". Even a simple design can look elegant if you approach the matter with the soul and turn on the imagination.

Be sure to make a detailed drawing of the portal, since its design can be complicated enough to keep all its features and sizes in memory.

The first thing to start is measure "hearth" - a system that simulates the burning of the flame, for which the portal is actually created. If you use an old TV set as a “hearth”, showing a video featuring a fire in the fireplace, then measure it.

Remember that the portal of the electric fireplace should not be cumbersome and heavy - this is just a decoration for the design of the "hearth" and no more. In addition, it can also be made portable or even mobile (on wheels)! In this case, its weight is especially important.

After the measurements have been made, the necessary materials have been acquired and all the design features have been taken into account andposting portal, you can get to work. 

Manufacturing portal 

So let's take a look at how to make a portal. Its frame can be rigidly fastened to the wall, floor, or not attached to anything at all if the portal is planned to be made portable. It does not matter - the assembly of the frame can begin in any convenient place (garage, for example), and not where it is planned to install a fireplace.

In this case, the frame should be assembled from the bottom, gradually moving upwards, while fastening vertical stands and ties to the base. Ready frame set in the selected location and fasten it to the wall on the corners.

After that, you can begin the installation of drywall, plywood or other sheet material that you have chosen. Since here we are considering making a portal out of plasterboard for electric fire, for cutting it we only need big office knife.

In order to accurately cut the drywall from the first time, you must first mark all its parts on paper or regular cardboard, cut them in full size, cut them and fit them to the frame. Then make the necessary amendments and transfer the markup from paper to drywall.

After the drywall is firmly fixed to the frame with screws, all joints, seams and irregularities should be thoroughly treated with a primer and putty. Once the structure is dry, you can proceed to decorative finish.

For the electrofireplace portal décor you can use any suitable materials that are on hand in sufficient quantity. You can also buy them in the store. Purchased decorative materials accurately imitate stone, marble or wood. All of them are lightweight and easily attached to drywall using special glue.

The artificial stone is best suited for decorating the portal, because it is not as sensitive to temperature extremes as other materials.

When installing the electric center in the portal, you need to follow certain installation rules described in the instructions for the fireplace. Attention is recommended to pay attention to the reliability of electrical wiring and ventilation. Especially if the electric fireplace has the function of heating. But there are no particularly strict rules for installing a hotbed and it is quite possible to cope with this task independently.

By the way, to give the electric fireplace a complete resemblance to the present, they often do it chimney from the same materials as the portal. Such a decision may be due not only to aesthetic considerations, but also from a practical point of view — for example, a TV or an audio system can be built into the “chimney”.

But if you decide to make a chimney, then you need to start from the very beginning at the design and assembly stage of the portal structure. The chimney should start directly at the top of the portal and end at the ceiling. Usually it is made with a depth of 10-15 cm so that you can put something on the countertop of the portal: candles, watches or souvenirs.

Fireplace design

I think you will agree that after all the work done, aimed solely at making some kind of a real electric fireplace with unreal fire, it should be appropriately to furnish. Why stop? If we really go, then to the end!

Next to the fireplace you can put a small portable drovnik with real logs, an old cast-iron poker and tongs, next to put a whisk and a scoop for ash.

All of these devices for the fireplace are usually hung on a special stand next to it or on the side of the fireplace on hooks. They can be bought in an antique shop or from some junkie.

You can go even further, and to give your fireplace maximum resemblance to the present, attach to the hearth forged patterned screen, and lay out the floor in front of it with tiles - supposedly to protect against sparks and falling coal.

All these items will give your electric fireplace not only a resemblance to real wood, but also create the appropriate atmosphere of coziness and antiquity. What you actually wanted from the very beginning, when you decided to make a portal! 

Conclusion 

As you can see, everything is real, accessible and nothing frighteningly complicated in this. I think that even schoolchildren in the class of labor would have done an “excellent” task under the guidance of a teacher if they had put it in front of them.