Tips on How to Build a Backyard Fire Pit
Bringing my family together was my goal. Creating a place that we could gather together in the early evening that didn’t include a television took some thinking. A fire pit is a small dug out pit where you can start a camp fire and just gather around and talk. It is a somewhat cozy way of getting warm and at the same time bonding with the people around you.
Getting people around a fire and talking about anything under the night sky just create a mood that is hard to describe. For many years, a fire pit has been used for outdoor activities and camp outs to foster good relations among campers. But how to build a fire pit has been a topic of much discussion because it usually requires some planning and thought. You don’t want the fire pit too close to any structures that might catch fire easily or any dried up plants or wood that are highly flammable.
Build your Fire Pit and Keep Safety in Mind
Starting with the basics is alway a solid decision. You want to think about the size of your fire pit. You don’t need to build a huge hole nor do you need a lot of open space. Initially plan for your fire pit to be about a foot and a half in circumference.
How to build a fire pit is easy once you have all the materials ready. You need some digging tools and some pea gravel and sand. You will also need some concrete pavers or blocks to surround your fire pit with. Check with your local home supply company, like Home Depot or Lowe’s for the tools and materials you need.
Once you have your fire pit supplies, mark the circumference by drawing a circle on the ground. Dig your fire pit within the circle about one foot deep. Within this one foot deep hole, in the very center of it, you must also dig another hole with a circumference of around six inches. This hole should also be about eight to twelve inches deep.
Fill up both holes with pea gravel and then add about three inches of sand at the very top of your fire pit. The sand should be level with the ground already. The gravel acts as a drain for your fire pit. You can now surround your fire pit with the concrete pavers or blocks. It would be better if your pavers would be at least two stacks high to prevent any rolling logs of sticks.
You might want to also build a nice place to sit around the fire pit. A simple bench can be constructed using a couple of cinder blocsk and a six foot length of redwood 2×6 lumber. Dress up the bench by using “Key Stone” landscaping blocks. These blocks are typically used to build retaining walls and come in a wide variety of textures and colors.
It doesn’t have to be expensive to build a backyard fire pit. Make it a fun family project.