Worried about heat on my patio

[michaelandrews]

I have an upright brinkman charcoal smoker that I'm going to be busting out for the first time this week. I have a special kind of patio that is covered with a gravel, and then the gravel has some sort of sealant on it to make it smooth. I can't tell you what it is because I've never seen it before and I bought the house with it. Anyways, I'm worried about the heat being too close to this stuff and possibly causing some issues. Does anyone have an idea of some cheap bricks I could get to set my smoker on to raise it up a little bit?

 

[dward51]

They sell round grill mats made from a concrete like material at Home Depot and Lowes.  I have one under my WSM.  You can also put a aluminum water heater pan under there.  That's what I used to protect my wooden deck from errant sparks of charcoal popping out the bottom vents before I upgraded to one of the concrete like mats.

The one I have is called "The Original Grill Pad".  They come in different sizes & shapes. Mine is round and I don't recall if I got it at Lowes or Home Depot though.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_117446-18889-GP-42-L_0__

Here is mine under my WSM on the new deck.

The original grill mat.jpg

• dward51
• Mar 11, 2013

And here is the WSM in the water heater pan I used when I first got it (on the old deck).  Not as nice looking but it served the purpose and only cost about $12 back then.

standing_guard.jpg

• dward51
• Mar 10, 2013