While trudging through the everyday lifestyle of apartment dwelling, my husband and I spent a lot time dreaming of the day we’d finally own our very first house. We spent a lot of time chatting about what we needed once we had a place we could call our own, and a grill and fire pit were constantly sexy conversations.
So whenever the day we became homeowners arrived, the idea of a fire pit was finally on its way to fruition. But before anything was built, there were a few decisions that had to be made. Details such as location, size, price and variety of rock, together with a little bit of research, were at the very top of my list. While browsing online, I found it very hard to locate just what I was searching for. So in a bid to generate another source, I chose an article about how best to create a fire pit was in order.
Erin Lang Norris
I decided to begin with a photo of the finished project as opposed to a photo of these stuff because it is a bit more interesting than a bunch of tools and materials laid out would be. Additionally, I thought it could possibly be a good idea to provide a general idea of what your attempts can produce if you choose to go this course.
Materials:
Concrete: 5 or 4 luggage
Mortar: 5 or 6 bags
Rebar: 10 pieces (approximately 24 inches )
Sandy creek flagstone and steppers: 1,600 pounds
Fire brick: 50 bricks
Supplies:
security glasses
Hose
Old wheelbarrow
Chisel
Mallet
Shovel
Chemical gloves
Leather gloves
Lots of patience
2 bottles of ibuprofen
Dimensions: 5 ft wide and 18 inches tall, which can be somewhat large, so use these figures loosely depending on how big your yard.
Approximate price: $450
Erin Lang Norris
Before we did anything, we viewed our yard from multiple angles to determine the best place for our fire pit. Next, we measured and marked the area with a can of spray paint at the end of a rope attached to a rod. Think of this as a large-scale drafting compass.
Once the yard was marked, we’d a principle for the foundation, which I shall just come out and say we didn’t dig deep enough wide enough, and we’ll probably need to address the consequences in the future. We dug just about 8 inches down, but I’ve read that it is recommended to go as far as 3 feet deep depending on your winter climate.
Erin Lang Norris
We prepared the concrete and poured it into the excavated area, leaving about half an inch between the top of the ground and the top of the concrete. Once the wet concrete was poured, I pressed about 10 2-foot-long rods of rebar into it for extra strength, then made sure that the cement was flat.
Erin Lang Norris
Although I probably should have let the foundation cure completely, I didn’t really do this. I could not find any good tutorials at the time and kind of only winged a couple of things, which I discovered to be stressful because this was something that I wanted to endure for a long time. I’m hoping that anybody who uses this as a tutorial is going to learn from my errors rather than repeat them.
Once the concrete was poured, I let it thicken a bit. During this time I piled my stones: large ones to a side and horizontal ones to the other. As I did so, I put aside the stones that I favored for the base. I desired varying peaks but wanted to make certain that everything on the bottom row was horizontal. I mostly chose stones which had a slight curve so that I could match it to the ring.
Hint: When you are selecting your gems at the stone yard, it is helpful to pick the flattest ones you can find so you aren’t working with any more angles than you presently have.
Erin Lang Norris
After the bottom row has been put, I let it harden for a few days. Then I started to stack the stones in small segments at a time to learn how they’d fit together. I usually did so before heading to work every day, so I’d do about a third of a degree daily.
After I enjoyed how it seemed, I moved the stones off to the side, being certain to keep everything in precisely the exact same order that I had just created. Ironically, this is the toughest part for me and required a long time. My best advice would be to not get caught up in perfection.
Erin Lang Norris
I combined small batches of gold and applied a coating under each rock as I went along. It is important not to get ahead of yourself here and just mix as much mortar as you can manage in a short period of time.
Hint: If you’re like me and do not have a stretch of days to do so all at the same time, your yard can take a serious beating. You may choose to stage everything in one specific area so you don’t have too much bud to repair.
Erin Lang Norris
Among the more difficult parts of this project came as I neared the top degree. Not only was I trying to fit things together side by side, which explains why a chisel is practical, but that I was now working against the grain of my own”varying peaks” thought. Sure, it may look cool, but it is most definitely a struggle to get things much again toward the very top. By now the job had turned into a vertical puzzle in addition to a flat one. This is where having various thicknesses of rock helped a lot.
The photo shown here was my last degree before placing the cap stones. I set the fire and mortared it collectively. While building the flame pit I left a few small openings for ventilation, I took into consideration when placing the fire . I ended up using three narrow gaps for airflow when all was said and done. If I were to do it on, I would not do this. It was among those tips that I kept reading over and over, but with a fire pit this size, I do not really require extra airflow.
Erin Lang Norris
Now, it is almost finished! My husband and my brother filled the floor with pea gravel after I dug the bud out from the middle.
I guess now is a good time to mention that getting to this stage required a large amount of strength, and my biceps became kind of huge. If this freaks you out, be careful. Transferring 1,600 pounds of rock all around the place by hand gets a bit grueling at times, especially when you’re working at ground level. This is where the ibuprofen was useful.
Erin Lang Norris
I saved my flattest and largest stones for the top, although I did need to make a second or third trip to my rock provider to get exactly what I wanted. A couple of hours afterwards, it was finally finish! Here you can see how difficult this endeavor was on the bud, but in my case it was really helpful because I finally removed it made that job easier.
Hint: When you purchase your stone, it is a good idea to buy more than you think you’ll want so that you’ll have a good selection to choose from.
Erin Lang Norris
I anxiously built my very first fire while hosting a party of approximately 30 people. It was only at that stage that I realized that I would need to scale into the flame pit to construct fires. I didn’t really realize how enormous it was before this particular day. We still get a kick from it.
Hint: For us, a large fire pit fits in well with the size of the yard. When you’re in your planning stages, maintain the size of your yard in mind so that it does not look too large or too small.
Erin Lang Norris
After a couple of parties, I started round two of the procedure: landscaping the surrounding area. I used the spray paint and series method for this component, too. I dug down about 3 inches and set landscaping fabric on top. We’re fortunate to live in an area with rich black dirt, but be cautioned that this would be a necessity to do by hand if you have clay or stone. May I suggest that you locate some friends and turn it into a”celebration”?
Hint: Be certain you have someplace to put all of the dirt that you will dig if you go this path, as it yields far more than you could think.
Erin Lang Norris
Next we laid pea gravel and called it quits for the period. Fall was here and the days were becoming cooler. I was happy to get this completed before winter set in.
We’d eventually like to substitute the pea gravel using something more bizarre, but this is exactly what was in our funding at the time. I read a whole lot about the nuisances of pea gravel — which it gets on your home and sneakers all of the time and that it is hard to keep clean.
I haven’t found this to be an issue, but again, the home is far enough from this area that it does not get tracked indoors, I wear only sandals in summer time, and a leaf blower will go a long way when removing debris from the fall.
Erin Lang Norris
After a massive garden overhaul this spring, I eventually had a few spare days to revisit this project. We dug out much more bud, laid mulch and started planting flowers. Off to the side, a large wooden planter can be utilized for branches, and a log pile is at an arm’s reach.
Finally I need this space to be more intimate and enclosed. I’m going to plant a few shrubs and some wildflowers in varying hues of purple, orange, red and yellow to maintain this area warm and inviting. We will also contain the gravel a bit more with a perimeter of sandstone.
Erin Lang Norris
This is exactly what it looks like from our deck. As you can see, I used the additional stones to create a route that leads to the area. Next year I shall plant blanket flowers at the edge of the path. But for this season, I’m contemplating it done.
For today I believe I’ll kick back and listen to late-night tales told by friends together with the crackling sound of fire in the backdrop.
More:
Browse fire pit layout ideas
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