Whether you want to grill burgers and dogs or are just in the mood to enjoy the evening skyline, a backyard fire pit can be a fantastic addition to your family life.
While it’s true that a fire pit can be formed with just a simple hole in the ground, we’ll describe in this article how you can step it up a notch and build a fire pit that’ll have your guests fired up about spending time at your place.
First things first: you’ll need a flat patch of ground that is far enough from your house so that smoke and fire won’t damage the homestead. Make sure you also prune any nearby low-hanging tree branches and other items that could catch fire.
To avoid smoke finding its way into your home, it’s also a good idea to record wind movement at different times of the day.
While the decision is ultimately yours, the recommended dimensions for a faire pit is between 36 and 44 inches.
Once you’ve found the perfect place, you can outline the fire pit by inserting a stake in the middle of where you want the pit to go. Connect a line of string or rope to the stake and walk in a circle – marking the pit border as you go.
Dig about eight (8) inches down to carve out the pit area then put down a bed of sand. Make sure the sand is patted down so that it’s level and compact.
For the wall of the fire pit, you’re going to need some form of stone. Fieldstone or wall block should work fine. Lay one level of stone around the fire pit border. You may need to tap the stones with a mallet so that they’ll be level.
Lay a second layer on top of first – attaching both layers with masonry adhesive, which you can buy in just about any hardware store.
After adding the second layer, put a bit more sand to the pit and then add follow the procedure for adding rings.
Here at Juniper Landscaping, we’re all about making San Diego lawns really pop – and we can do that for yours. We’ll be more than happy to help you with installing a fire pit or just about any other landscaping ideas you how.
Contact us here at Juniper in San Diego by calling (619) 334-9464.