Tips on How to Build a Backyard Fire Pit
A fire pit is a small dug out pit where you can build a camp fire and just gather around and talk. My goal was to bring my family togther by creating a place that we can gather in the early evening that did’nt include the Television. It is a cozy way of getting warm and at the same time bonding with the people around you.
A fire pit has been used for outdoor activities and camp outs for many years to help foster good relations among campers. Allowing people to gather around a fire and talk about anything under the night sky just builds a mood that is hard to describe. But how to build a fire pit has been a topic of many camp fires 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.
Safety Instructions on How To Build A Fire Pit
Once you have chosen a safe location of your proposed fire pit, you can then begin to focus on the fire pit building basics. Initially plan just how big the circumference of your fire pit must be. A fire pit shouldn’t be a huge hole in the the ground; an ideal circumference can be a foot and a half.
Building a fire pit can be easy once you gather all your materials. Make sure you have some digging tools and a supply of pea gravel and sand. You might want to purchase some concrete pavers or blocks to surround your fire pit. Check with your local home supply company like Lowe’s or Home Depot for some great ideas.
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.
You will want to fill both holes with pea gravel and then add about three inches of sand at the very top of the fire pit. Your sand should bring the level of the fire pit back to the level of the ground. Now surround your fire pit with your concreate pavers or blocks. You want to stack your pavers high enough that your logs won’t roll out of the pit.
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.
Make building a backyard fire pit a family project. It can be a fun and as you can see doesn’t have to be expensive.