Building a Fire Pit

Nothing says summer like a fire pit, and a few years back, we built one! We knew we wanted to build raised beds, so we first went to Home Depot and picked out a stone that would work not only for a firepit but also for our raised beds. We walked around the garden center and finally selected the one we wanted, and we splurged at the time to have it delivered. Wow, are we so glad that we did. It was almost a ton worth of stones.

To make a firepit, we ended up using about 48 stones, some level sands, and some firepit gravel all purchased from Home Depot.

Initially, we had to pick a location which was pretty easy for us because we wanted something close to our deck, but far enough away from trees and the house to prevent an accidental fire. We also decided the size which for us was 6 feet in diameter. For a better understanding, that took 16 stones per layer and we did three layers, plus toppers. We put down the self leveling sand, added some firepit gravel, and then laid out our first layer of stone.

The second layer was much more challenging as we had to figure out way to maintain the shape and we didn't have a way to split the stones. We ended up spacing them father apart on the second layer which ultimately provides a way for the fire to get more oxygen we later learned. The rest of the layers proved easier and we quickly had a finished fire pit ready for use! We added matching top pavers to finish the look. This has quickly become one of our favorite places to spend with friends throughout the summer and well into the fall.