Post #519989 by TorchGuy on Thu, Mar 25, 2010 9:29 PM

Gotta comment on the awesome Preway. That style is the most common Preway, and as far as I know the only really funky Preway, but it's most common in red, and slightly less so in pale orange. White, yellow, turquoise and your green are rarer colors, I have seen only one of each ever.

If you're concerned about weather, and I would be if you're near the ocean, you could put it on rollers. Tilt it flat on its back on some towels to protect the porcelain finish, and cut a board to fit the same size and shape as the bottom. Screw pieces of angle bracket to the underside so they stick up around the sides, holding the base in place when set on top, and attach some very small swivel wheels to the bottom. Then just wheel it inside when you're not using it.

If you DO want to burn in it, here's what ya gotta do. First, make sure it has a floor inside that isn't just metal. If all it has is metal, contact Malm Fireplaces, the only remaining manufacturer of these things, and buy a few bags of their refractory, a concrete-like firebrick powder you'll mix up, then pour in to form a firebox floor. If yours has no well in the floor below the front lip, it may be okay without the refractory...but the stuff should be used if you can, as it'll protect the metal floor from warping. The standard Preway model is similar in format to Malm's current Zircon model, and you might measure it (end-to-end and front-to-back) to tell them so they can guess at how much refractory you'll need. Once you've got a refractory floor, then go to the hardware store and grab a grate. Never burn right on the refractory. You'll also want a chimney cap with a screen, so sparks don't fly out.

Love your patio so far. Lookin' good. You can probably buy plastic hooks used to string Christmas lights along a gutter, and hang stuff from the gutter that way. You also might be able to get stick-on hooks so you can decorate the walls.