The NSS Gazette Informing the Thin Stone Community Volume I: September, 2008 Welcome to our first edition of the The NSS Gazette, featuring outdoor fireplaces.             Outdoor Fireplaces and Natural Stone Solutions     Extend the season with a breathtaking stone fireplace and enjoy the fresh fall air with the sound, warmth, and ambiance that a fire brings.  If you are unfamiliar with outdoor fireplaces, you should check them out.  They come in kits consisting of several masonry units that can be installed quickly and easily for contractors and homeowners alike.   The kits are generally plain old concrete, so it is recommended that they be faced with attractive natural stone.   Though the fireplaces are more expensive than the well known chiminea, they tend to heat much better on a cool evening.  Additionally, you can actually enjoy looking at a decent size flame, and you or your guests are much less likely to get “smoked out” because the fireplace stands about 7 feet high as opposed to the 3 foot chiminea. From a business/sales point of view, it is an excellent product line to promote.  Aside from the fireplace kit, you get the tie in sales of Natural Stone Solutions products and the mortar to install it.  For those interested in getting started, we stock the fireplace kits here in NJ.  Currently we have the 36” wide kits which wholesale for $952.50, and the 42”wide kits which wholesale for $1193.75.  Bags of mortar for the fireplace run $13.65 (generally 3 bags to a kit), and the firebrick splits run $1.65 ea. (approximately 65 brick per kit).                   * Pictured fireplace is veneered with Shawnee Mountain Squared full thickness stone   The fireplace kits can be enhanced using Natural Stone Solutions’ Diamond Select Series, or Hand Select Series.   We can recommend the quantity of stone needed for each kit, including corners.  Consider Natural Stone Solutions on an outdoor fireplace or grill, the results are sure to please!