Are you looking for a way to distinguish your backyard from the neighbor’s? Do you wish that you and your guests could spend time outdoors throughout the year, not just during the warmer months? Then building a backyard firepit might be a good project for you.
Fortunately, as long as you have the right tools and a little guidance, you can build a firepit with little cost. In under a week, you and your family can be sitting around a campfire, singing songs and roasting marshmallows.Â
So what are the steps to building a firepit?Â
1. Preparation is keyÂ
After you’ve found the site for your firepit, place granite, concrete, or pavers around the area – this will ensure it isn’t flammable.Â
2. Gather the materials
Unless you’ve got all the necessary tools on hand, you won’t be able to do much. Luckily, you can get a kit for this very task. It will include above all, wall units designed to border your fire. You will also need a cubic yard of concrete sand, a cubic yard of gravel, and adhesive for the concrete. But it hardly stops there.
In order to put all these materials to work, you also may want to have on hand the following items: a tape measure, rake, shovel, tamp, level, string, stake, paint can, hammer, circular saw, compactor, and lastly, safety gear for yourself (i.e. safety goggles).
3. It all starts with a circle
Determine the radius of your firepit (most firepits are typically up to twelve feet in diameter) and cut a string of that length. Place the stake in the very center of the where the firepit will be and tie one end of the string to the stake and its other end to the paint can. Now circle the stake with the outstretched string, painting the ground as you complete the circle.
4. Start diggingÂ
Dig up that circle of dirt! You should dig about a foot and a half deep into the soil.
5. Fill it inÂ
This is where the gravel comes into play. Fill about a third of the new hole with gravel. The gravel should be a level foundation however, so use a rake to smooth it over. You can use the tamp, also, to help the gravel settle.
6. Mark another circleÂ
Repeat step three (“it starts with a circleâ€) to create another marked circle within the firepit – this is so you can properly measure how the wall units will fit. You may want to go with a radius of about a foot and half this time around.
7. Bring in the wall unitsÂ
Using a mallet (or a hammer of some sort) to fasten the wall units around the pit. You may or may not have to cut the wall units to position them correctly – it depends on the kit you’re using.
8. Bring in more wall unitsÂ
Now you can use the concrete adhesive to apply the next layer of wall units. Again, depending on your kit, you’ll have to do little more than this.
9. Time to get things heated upÂ
After you’ve finished off the perimeter, you’re now ready to see your new firepit in action. Get that wood or buy those fire logs or charcoal and enjoy the gorgeous outdoors in even the coldest months of the year.