How to Make a DIY Fire Pit
Why Build a DIY Fire Pit?
How to make a DIY fire pit with pea gravel seating area. After reading this blog you will know how to build a fire pit and lay a pea gravel seating area. This is my experience with building a DIY fire pit and seating area, my opinions, and all materials purchased 100% by me.
For years I have wanted a fire pit for the backyard. Who doesn’t love hanging out by a fire with friends on a cool evening? Maybe sipping a beverage or two while roasting marshmallows ;). Hello, it’s me! However, I could never find a fire pit for a decent price and of good quality.
After a bit of thinking and planning, I happened to find Polywood Adirondack chairs 50% off at Home Depot (end of summer clearance sale). I hit the jackpot. Finding the chairs I have been wanting for that price was the push I needed to make all my fire pit dreams come true!
Within this post I will tell you how to make a simple, yet inviting DIY fire pit with a pea gravel seating area.
Skill Level: Beginner.
Full disclosure. This DIY fire pit project was incredibly labor intensive as this was a 100% solo project. To make this easier and quicker you could invest in some friend labor support and/or buy/rent a tiller. I do not recommend hand digging or loading pavers and materials solo. Don’t be like me, ask for help.
Also, by shopping at a local landscaping supply store there you will find a better selection of paver stone than at big box hardware stores. Delivery of pea gravel was additional, but worth it to me as this saved me time ($65 dollars for 1.5 yards delivery fee).
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Listed are the supplies needed for a 3′ diameter fire pit with a 22′ diameter seating area (approximate measures).
Supply List for a DIY Fire Pit Build:
- Landscaping blocks/bricks/pavers, about 150 that are 7″x10″ (local landscaping supply calculated what was needed).
- Pea gravel
- Weed barrier fabric
- Metal landscape staples
- Metal fire ring
- paver base 1
- paver base 2
- lava rocks
Tools:
Step 1. Planning
Begin by deciding where the fire pit will go.
When choosing a placement keep in mind:
- Where will it look good?
- Where does it make sense?
- How big will it be? Ensure there will be enough room for chairs/ seating and they wont be too close to the fire.
- Will it be far enough from trees, bushes, fences, low laying branches, etc.?
*Most important, before beginning to dig call the local gas company to find where underground gas lines are located. Also, check local ordinance and code to make sure what you have planned is legal in your area.
Step 2. Measure and Mark
After deciding the fire pit location, mark it out with spray paint before beginning to dig. Marking the area out will show you exactly what the area will look like and how much space it will take up.
Here, I chose a circle as the shape of the fire pit and seating area. I have seen square, rectangles, oval, and a variety of other layouts done well.
Making a perfect circle outline.
- Put a spike in the ground about where you think the middle of you fire pit area will be.
- Cut a piece of string a little longer than the radius of the circle.
- Tie one end of a piece of string around the spike and the other end around a paint can ensuring the string is still long enough to accommodate the size circle desired.
- Pulling the string taunt, start spraying the ground while slowly walking around in a circle.
- Step back and be sure you are happy with the placement and size of the fire pit seating area.
This fire pit seating area is about 22′ with a 3′ fire pit.
Step 3. Preparation of Ground
Once the layout is marked, it’s time to get digging! The easy way would be to dig out the perimeter with a shovel; then, use a tiller to remove the grass/weeds and level the dirt.
What I did was, begin by taking the half moon shovel and dig out the perimeter. Then use a round point shovel to manually remove all of the grass and dirt from that area. I’m not going to lie, this part took me a long time. The dirt that was removed I used as fill dirt around a cement pad that was recently poured.
After all the grass and dirt is removed, take a landscape rake and work the ground until it seemed smooth and even. Once smooth, take a long level to try and level the area as much as possible. Rework the ground with a rake and smooth down humps. Then take a hand tamp and tamp down loose dirt.
The smoothing and leveling would have gone pretty quick if I had rented a tiller, it truly is my one regret.
*I have seen other leave the grass intact and put weed barrier over it along with pea gravel on top of that. I do not recommend that. The ground will not be level and you will have a much harder time keeping weeds out.
Step 4. Dig a Trench
This step may be optional (only time will tell), but am hopeful it will help the pavers stay level and in place better and longer than just placing them on dirt or sand.
Dig down about 4-5″ deep and 2-3″ wider than the pavers going all the way around the perimeter of the seating area. Once dug out, clean up the outer most edge so that pavers will lay in the trench and line up together. For this, I wanted pavers at grass level so that they could be mowed close to without issue.
**When digging a trench for the seating area pavers, consider if you want them level with the ground to mow over, or if you want them elevated some (you will need to use a weed eater around them).
Step 5. Add Paver Base and Sand to Fire Pit & Trench
Once the trench has been dug a few inches deeper than the paver depth, evenly lay crushed gravel in a thin layer; tamp with a hand tamp. On top of the crushed gravel add paver base step 1 in about a 1″ thick even layer; then, tamp even. Once level, add paver base step 2 (1-2″) and tamp again. Add paver base step 2 to any areas that need more fill to bring them level with the rest of the trench.
Step 6. Creating the Fire Pit
After paver bases are spread evenly, form the fire pit ring. For this part, I found it easiest to place the steel fire ring where I wanted the fire area to be. Then, arrange pavers in a circle around the fire ring. Remove the steel fire ring and begin placing pavers for the second row. After each row is complete push pavers closer together before removing the fire ring and moving onto the next row.
Also, During placement of pavers in the fire ring, I left ventilation spaces (2-3″ gaps) so the fires can get oxygen. Continue on 3-5 rows high to get the desired look. Some people choose to use adhesive to secure paver bricks together. I did not use any adhesive in case I didn’t like the location, wanted to move things around, or wanted to change the vent positions. In my opinion, the pavers are heavy enough to hold their place on their own.
At this point, you can leave the steel fire pit ring insert on the top. Place a layer of sand (1″) and lava rocks (4-5″) in the bottom of the fire pit.
Step 7. Lay Weed Barrier Fabric to DIY Fire Pit Seating Area
After forming the fire pit, ensure all low spots on the seating area filled/leveled with leftover paver base or sand. Then, lay weed barrier to the whole fire place seating area. Allow for a few inches of weed barrier to go into the trench at the perimeter. The paver bricks will hold it in place. Secure landscaping fabric with metal lawn staples.
Step 8. Lay Pavers around Boarder
Once the weed barrier fabric is secured, arrange the pavers around the perimeter over top the weed barrier fabric. Using a utility knife, cut away any extra weed barrier fabric that hangs over the out edge on the grass.
Step 9. Add Pea Gravel to Seating Area
After completing the DIY fire pit, it’s time to fill the seating area with all of the pea gravel. It was helpful to fill a 5 gallon bucket and dumping it was the quickest and easiest way for me to transfer all the pea gravel.
Once all the pea gravel was transferred, push pea gravel into any of the spaces between the pavers on the perimeter. This helps the pavers to stay in place better. Lastly, level the whole area with a large landscaping rake.
Step 10. Finishing Touches
Lastly, after the pea gravel is spread and even carefully fill the gap between the paver and yard grass with dirt and compress. You may choose to leave this small space (about an inch or two) as is with the compressed dirt, or you may want to plant grass in that area. I had planned on planting grass initially, but once the dirt was placed, it didn’t make much of a difference esthetically. However, I may change my mind in the spring!
Step 11. Add Seating
Putting together these Polywood Adirondack chairs was the easiest, least time consuming bit of the whole DIY fire pit build project. I was able to put all 6 together in about an hour. Once assembled, arrange them around the fire pit. I have been using these for about 6 months now and love them! They are very sturdy, I have no qualms leaving them out in the harsh winters we get here.
Future Plans for this DIY Fire Pit Area
I absolutely love how this DIY fire pit area turned out! This was phase one! Some other things I have planned for this area include:
- Barrel posts and string lights
- Outdoor movie projector
- Flower pots
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