How to Build a Fire Pit - Stupidly Easy!

Part 1 - How to Build a Patio - Ultimate DIY Installation Guide

Part 2 - How to Build Patio Seat Walls & Columns DIY

HOW TO BUILD A FIRE PIT

No cuts, no muss, no fuss. Doesn’t get much simpler than today's fire pit project, but there are a few tips and tricks in today's video that most people are not aware of. How long did you work on that? 30 minutes. The majority of that by himself, and we're going to show you guys how to do it, what to expect, and some technical details that are going to make your life a lot easier. Is there a footing on this fire ring? We're actually using the paver patio itself as our footing. We're going to be building up with Western wall blocks. Then we're going to set the fire ring into that.   So this fire pit is going to sit on the patio surface.

Footings

All right, one of the things that I want to point out is that there is some contention within the industry about whether you should pour a separate footing for the fire ring, or if you can use an existing patio. When you pour a footing, you're pouring concrete at 3000 PSI. And the blocks themselves are 1000 PSI. Can you damage these blocks? For sure.  You can discolor them, but these patio blocks are going to hold up. That's right.  They are a lot easier to use and it makes a consistent form of construction.  Don't worry about taking the time to form out a different surface in the interior of this fire pit. Build your paver patio.  It's quick and easy, and then begin construction of the fire pit. So the reason this looks like it's going together fast and easy is because it is. It's actually a pre-cut pit. These stones are designed to fit together already.  So all you guys got to do is grab them off from a pallet and put them in place and tighten them around the ring. All right, the guys dry stack the stones. Now they are flipping them up, and they're going to be putting a bead of glue down to hold this base course in place. They know exactly where the stones got to go, so once they lay them, they're done.

Glue the Blocks Down

Make sure you apply adhesive to every brick in every course.  Don't skip this step and lay that fire ring right in place. Now I know I told you to use plenty of adhesive when you are building your fire pit, but make sure that you put it further back on the block so that when you slap it down, it doesn't squish through the face. This stuff is messy and nasty when it gets out of hand.  So they use the ring to form the bottom two courses, then lift the ring up, slide a couple blocks underneath it, and then use the ring again as a guide to build it up. That is its final height right there.

Granite or Lava Rock Pit Fill

Time for your tip of the day. I hope I didn't break that. If you're going to line the bottom of your fireplace with stone, use a granite or lava rock. If you use a river rock, it retains moisture inside and the first time you heat it up it can explode. The bottom of this ring gets filled. This is a granite stone, so we can use this for two purposes. We can core fill the columns and walls, and we can use it to fill the bottom of this fire pit. As he lays each subsequent course, he makes sure that he does not get an even bond on every block. He wants to intentionally offset that so that as he goes around the bond is never lining up with each other. Structurally this wouldn't make much of a difference, but I just don't want to look like an amateur or a hack.

57-Stone

So the last layer of brick is going in place. We're going to fill the bottom of this fire pit with 57 stone, but why? Well, we want to make sure that we have a dry surface to start our fires. If it just rained the day before you may have a wet surface. With this layer of 57 stone, it allows us to always have a dry surface.  As water comes in it will percolate down to the bottom, leaving you with a nice dry surface on the top. I want to also point out something about the fire ring.  Can we rotate that? So if you don't like where your grate is, you're not stuck. Also, if you don't like the grate at all, just simply remove it. Pull it out and all you have to do is make fires. This grate is primarily for cooking. Now I want to give a big thank you to Belgard for sponsoring this three part mini-series.  Without them it would have never been possible. I hope this has helped you out. Let me know in the comments down below what you would like to see next. God bless, go get them, and subscribe.