Flower Love
Increasing the warmth and hospitality you can offer guests is easy when you add a fire pit in the back yard. These are easy to construct and well worth the money and time it takes to create such a product. Functionality is also a plus and can reduce the cost of cooking in your home while keeping the cost of air conditioning to a minimum.
Don’t worry too much about your budget
Your budget shouldn’t prevent you from believing that your money can’t buy everything you need for this type of project. Recycled materials are all the rage right now and most of them are free. This will help you immensely with your DIY fire pit plans.
It may take some time to collect enough materials, but the benefits outweigh this minor issue. You can keep a little more trash out of your municipal landfill by recycling, have a little more cash in your pocket from materials that don’t need to be bought, and if you use wood made from tree debris and strips near you, you are it will save you even more cooking and cooling costs in your house and save more space in the landfill by burning the wood.
Be on the safe side when collecting materials for your fire pit. Ceramic tiles may be pretty, but they may not be heat-resistant and can break if exposed to heat. Use colored glass instead. Stones can also be used. Setting them in concrete can create different patterns or just a simple but elegant look from the arrangement of the different stones.
If you really have a heart for ceramic tiles, make sure they are very small and encased in concrete on all sides. A DIY fireplace should still have many safety features.
Why Choosing a Fire Pit is a Great Idea
A fire pit can be a good focal point for gatherings. It can help bring people together for conversation while keeping mosquitos at bay. If you have a pool, this is a great way to warm up after a night swim. Cooking on a fire pit is also a popular pastime for many and a great place to make memories and snap photos.
Photos of the chef are always a great addition to your Facebook profile.
Photos of what was for dinner are also favorite shots that are often taken and shared. The glow of a fire is also very complementary to your skin and makes photos even better. For one-on-one conversations, a fire pit can be a very romantic place.
Sitting around your fire pit should be far enough back so people don’t risk getting burned from the heat, but close enough that they can lean forward to roast marshmallows if they want. You can go for something more stately like benches or something more rustic and natural like large logs.
When choosing logs, check them frequently for insect activity, especially ants, as these can bite. Log blocks are easy to find and replace when needed, and while they weigh quite a bit, they’re still much lighter than an entire log in case you ever need to replace one. Blocks can also be easily moved from one place to another.
Different options for fuel
For a simple, down-to-earth fire pit, stick to wood in the form of logs or briquettes. Charcoal is also a great option but is never found for free in your neighborhood.
Gas and propane can be used, but will most likely require planning permission. The permit and the additional materials, plus the need to refuel your tank, add an extra cost to the construction and life of your fire pit. A tank can also be an unsightly “thing” that sits in your yard. Metal tanks can rust very quickly. It is also not safe to burn wood if you have gas or propane built into your fire pit.
Another option that you should consider is gelled fuels. These are alcohol based, burn slowly and have no toxic fumes. Some don’t like the smell, but they’re safe enough to use in wood stoves and indoor fireplaces. Some even have additives that create popping noises that mimic the sounds of a natural wood fire.
Ways to disguise a fireplace
There are ways to dress up a fire pit to make it look even more unique. Search online for different fire pit design ideas to create a truly unique fire pit that will bring more of your personality to your backyard living space. A popular idea is to add a fireplace in the back so you can hang your cooking equipment on the sides.
You can shape the chimney as a cone or a traditional shape, or make it a full wall. Creating a full wall allows you to add soft lights that can be turned on or off depending on your mood.
The fire and ice style are used to add broken glass to the fire pit during construction. The glass is fireproof, but it needs to be cleaned occasionally to maintain its beauty.
With the relatively new Fire and Water style, you implement water into the design of your fireplace. You can do this by simply creating a ring outside of the fire pit. Filling this ring creates a moat effect and the moat reflects the flames of the fire. This shouldn’t be deep, but it can be as wide as you’d like. It can also be seen as an extra safety feature for those with young children who may not think before getting too close to the fire.
Fire pits in the fire and stone style are very classic and traditional. Most use river bed stones, although you can use unusual stones and stones that you’ve found for an unusual twist instead. Each stone could even have its own meaning, especially just for you and possibly a few others.
You could make it a family event where you take a hike to collect special stones and create a memory that will last for years. There are many different stone fire pit ideas that you can find online.
Other ways of sitting beyond the bench or tree trunk that encourage socializing
Hanging bubble chairs, swings on the porch, patio furniture – these are other ways to sit around your fire pit. You need to make sure that neither is placed too close to another that people might walk through. Combinations can also be a good idea so that seating groups are used instead of people being spread out across the entire seating space.
This will help you immensely by making it easier to clean up the next day. When your seating causes people to sit close together, interaction between your guests increases.
Different uses for your fireplace
Regular use of your fire pit will bring you and your family closer together, and it can do the same for you and your friends. There are other uses for your fire pit that you might want to consider before starting construction.
You can use your fire pit as the base for an extra-large outdoor table perfect for dining or playing cards. You can make your own or purchase one through a manufacturer. It can also be smaller and used as a coffee table instead.
If you think your fire pit is too high to later be used as a table stand, consider sinking the fire pit into the ground. You don’t lose any space in the pit itself and you can always use it as a table base.
Kids love to sleep outside, and many would love to make a fire so it feels more like “real” camping than just a night in the garden with friends. Allowing the children to use the fire pit with a gel fuel is a safe way to have fun while still staying relatively safe.
Build it differently
You can also build a fully submerged fire pit rather than one that is above the ground or only partially submerged. This is a good choice if you plan to cook with a tripod frequently. If you want a temporary fire pit that will only last a year or two, use a container instead. Embellish it a little with natural objects like stone and you will find inspiration to build your permanent fire pit in a year or two.
Plans and ideas
There are many plans and ideas and instructions for building a fire pit that you can find online. However, to make it entirely your own, build your own using different ideas from different plans. Take the time to build your fire pit and make sure the safety catches some of your attention. Use different stone fire pit ideas and make your own fire pit.