A fireplace, to most, is what really adds value to the place, making your house a home. Homeowners will pride their abodes with a masonry fireplace, keep it maintained, and use it as their primary source of heat. It should be noted that, however great you want to make your fireplace and its chimney, you are in the end, playing with fire.

Therefore, care, knowledge and precision, come before good looks, when it comes to building a fireplace chimney. After all, you wouldn't want your house burnt down because of it, or have to bear with a back draft of fumes every time the wind blows into your chimney.

Before you start off with building a brand new, you should know a couple of rules that go with it. These rules are meant to keep peril at bay and ensure a safe fireplace. Also, following these guidelines will help simplify the procedure.

Its height after this point is decided by all objects in a 10 feet radius around it. The height must be at least 2 feet above anything within a 10 feet radius.

There will be other rules regarding type of masonry used, fuel used, clearance from flammable materials, etc. Most of them will be localized, so be sure to follow the local rules as well.

It should be built such that it is least 4 inches larger than the flue in all directions. So if you're using a 10"×10" flue liner, your chimney should be 14"×14". The outer part must be at least 2 inches away from anything that may float up the flue. Place the chimney cap on top of the flue lining and fill the gap between them using a silicon sealant.

In this case, you will need to wrap the flue beforehand with ceramic fiber paper. This will protect your flue from direct contact with the rods whenever they expand due to heat. Line your chimney with tiles that can withstand extreme temperatures or temperature fluctuations, like vitrified fire clay tiles.

Fortify the masonry every 18 inches with a steel ladder. Anchor your chimney to each floor and roof in case it is an exterior version.

Water aids in the corrosion of the cap and work downwards into the flue. Take note of all the different materials that you use in building the chimney. They will all have different coefficients of thermal expansion, and this will become a problem if two different materials are packed too closely together.

Be careful whenever you use sealants, and keep a close watch wherever there are any gaps for some time after starting to use the fireplace.

Making your own fireplace chimney can take long hours to complete, but anyone into home improvement will find the task very rewarding. They do add an aesthetic quality to your home and often display the home owner's state of mind. So just let the guidelines point the way and add your own styling where possible, to mark the structure as yours.