Bob's Bloggers
A community of bloggers who live and die to DIY
diy, outdoor structures
DIY Tales: Building a Backyard Stone Firepit
By Julie Loves Home on Sep 11, 2013
Every summer, we tackle a handful of outdoor projects. I thought this one was definitely worth sharing!
The hubs and I were sick of buying those metal outdoor fire pits that you find at just about any local home store. They look nice for about 10 minutes before decaying into a pile of rust, transforming what should be a nice evening roasting marshmallows into a fearful game of ‘who’s up to date on their tetanus shot‘. Not cool. We were about to chuck our 5th one to the curb and go shop for another when I fell in love with the idea of a stone fire pit. But I was shocked by the price tag: $1500 to $2000 (stones + labor). Yikes! I did a little more research and felt pretty confident we could buy the supplies and do it ourselves for a fraction of the cost. I was right! Got 2 hours and $233 dollars? Great, keep reading for the how-to details.
1. THE SUPPLIES
- 68 retaining wall stones: 17 stones per circle layer x 4 layers (the bottom layer is hard to see in the photo because it is 60% buried)
- 3 bags of rock dust
- 6 bags of pea gravel
- Construction adhesive (glue)
- Shovel, garden trowel, level, measuring tape, rope, rubber mallet, work gloves
I know it was a bit pricier than buying a ready made metal fire pit. But considering we probably won’t have to replace this one for years, (a decade?) it will probably save us several hundred dollars. Plus it adds so much character to the landscaping and makes for a more welcoming spot to entertain!
P.S. The 8 charcoal Adirondack chairs are plastic (of course I dream about having solid wood ones but these cost about 1/4 of the price, for now they’ll do just fine!). The orange-red alternating lumbar pillows and Adirondack head pillows I scored for $3.44 each. They didn’t have 8 left so I bought 4 of each and alternated one on each chair. Talk about budget decorating! ;-)