How to Easily Build a Stone Fire Pit In Your Yard

How to Easily Build a Stone Fire Pit in Your Home

A stone fire pit is a domestic installation for adding warmth in an open air area of your home. Such installations are great as these let you have a bonfire in your backyard without damaging the lawn. The following are the steps which will explain how to build a stone fire pit on your own without much hassle.

Choosing the Stone :

Firstly you'd need to go ahead and buy the stone. You need to have a fair idea about how big the pit should be, of what shape it should be and where will you are going to install the pit. Then measure out the dimensions of the pit and visit a stone yard. You should choose a palletized stone for the pit you wish to build as they are uniformly sized and are to premium quality, this might cost you a bit more than regular stone, but it is definitely worth it.

Getting the base ready :

Getting the base ready is the next job. You simply need to hammer down rebar right at the center point of the pit’s intended spot. Now you need to take a string that is equal to the radius of the pit. And affix one end with a loop at the center of the rebar and attach the other end to a spray can and encircle the entire rebar so that a circle the of the size of the pit is drawn. Dig a trench on the drawn circumference at least six inches deep.

Now take another string which is smaller than the first string by the measure of the thickness of the wall repeat the step which you did with the first string. This will give you another concentric circle inside the bigger circle.

Preparing the Cement :

The next step will be preparing the pre-mixed cement which is readily available. Prepare the mix as per the directions provided by the manufacturer. Then spread this mix out in the area between the two concentric circles. Keep leveling the cement mix until it is at one and a half inches below the grade. Then take two-foot pieces of the rebar and place them on the wet cement until they submerge in the mix. And allow this setting to dry.

Laying the Bricks :

When this is done lay the 1^st row of fire bricks. Then apply a layer of mortar on the inside face of the brick lining. And keep repeating as well as checking the level. As you go by lying the bricks polish out the access mortar to keep the level uniform. This way you will complete placing one ring of bricks. Keep at this routine until the desired height is reached. Then, in the end, you just need to lay the capstones. Choose almost similar looking, flat and befitting pallets of stones. This looks good. Then attach these capstones to the top of the brick face of the pit.

Then you can beautify the surroundings of the pit excavating some area which is desirable enough for seating purpose and lay landscaping fabric and crushed out stones.

Then you simply need to spray wash any accumulated dirt on the inside of the pit and paint the inside with black colored stove paint and your fire pit is ready. 

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial and it was quite comprehensive if not, please leave a comment and I'll try my best to help you with any of your doubts.