Introduction

A suburban home is everyone’s dream. Once you own that dream, you push farther and do many kinds of renovation and improvement projects. One of the most interesting projects among them is an outdoor firepit. You can take the easy route by searching for “landscape companies near me” and hiring professionals. Otherwise, you can DIY it and save some money. Let’s check out how you can build a fire pit with pavers:

The Details

1. Tools and materials – First of all, you need the right materials and tools to build your fire pit. Make sure you source these materials before you start the project. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Work Gloves
• Garden Rake
• Tamper
• Shovel
• Tape Measure
• Stakes
• Twine
• Carpenter’s Level
• Gravel
• Sand
• Polymeric paver sand
• Bricks
• Retaining Wall Block
• Rubber mallet
• 4 feet long wood pieces (2×4 pieces)
• Landscape adhesives

2. Location – Location is key while building a fire pit and that would let you know how much material you need. However, before you make the fire pit, make sure to consult your local authorities. Some places have strict regulations about the types of materials that can be used for a firepit and some even layout specific methods and permitted locations in your property for the fire pit construction. Make sure you follow the regulations.
3. Amount of materials – Once you’ve decided on the location, you’ll have a better idea about the amount of material you’ll need. After you measure the potential size of your fire pit, you can calculate accordingly. You also need to decide on the shape of your firepit. A ring-shaped pit needs trapezoidal blocks which narrow down on one side. Square or rectangular-shaped pits can be made with all kinds of blocks of different sizes and shapes.
4. Mark the pit – After you decide on the shape, location, and size of your fire pit, you need to mark it. Whether you decide on a ring or rectangular pit, mark the outline with stakes or twine.
5. Dig the pit – Dig the area of your pit with a shovel. Make sure that you reach at least 7 inches under the surface. The digging needs to be consistent or else there will be many problems in the later stages of the project. You don’t even need fancy equipment to maintain digging consistency. Instead, you can use stakes or twines and connect them with tape. After that, you can check with a spirit level to make sure you have evenly dug the ground.

6. Lay the gravel – After you’ve dug the ground, you need to fill it with gravel. The pit needs to be filled with gravel evenly with little to no air gaps. That’s why you need to be careful with gravel filling, shake and press it. Keep it slow and make sure there are no gaps. Otherwise, the foundation would be shaky and will cave in quickly. Finally, level the gravel layer in place.
7. Lay sand on gravel – After laying the gravel, you need to cover it up with sand. You need to top the gravel with around one inch of sand. After that, level the sand with a rake and tamp it tight into place. Now take a 2 x 4 wood piece and move it over the sand back and forth screeding it level. Finally, you can check the level of the sand base with a carpenter’s level.

The sand layer is very important since it creates a non-flammable base that doesn’t catch on fire and conducts heat quite well. It’s necessary both for a stable foundation and for a

8. Base paving – When it comes to brick pavers, you can choose any color that you need. It’s best to choose a color that matches your landscape. Most people prefer red or charcoal black when it comes to fire pits. You can also select two or three colors and make an attractive pattern.

Start laying bricks on one corner and work outwards with the guidelines. Leave around a quarter-inch gap between the bricks. Place a 2 x 4 wood piece on the pavers and use a rubber mallet to tap around and make sure the bricks are level. While doing that, you need to frequently check with a carpenter’s level.

9. Stacking – After laying the base layer of pavers, fill the gaps with polymeric sand to lock the joints. Once they are stable, you can start stacking up the pit. When you set the next layer of brick pavers on top, offset them by half to create a nice pattern. If you have chosen two colors of pavers, you can alternate the bricks or alternate each stack.

While stacking the bricks, you need to use landscape adhesives to make the base layer stick to the upper layer firmly. Once that’s done, wait for some time and let the adhesive bond properly. Check by pulling the bricks of the upper layer. If they feel firm enough, you can repeat the steps and keep stacking subsequent layers with the same method.

10. Finishing touches – When you stack up to a foot or whatever height that’s required to meet the local regulations, you need to add finishing touches. Right now, your fire pit is functional, but it can be made to look better. Top off the fire pit with flat and thin pavers of different textures and colors. Make sure that it complements the rest of the pit.

After the fire pit is complete, you can also make a patio around it and place some outdoor furniture around it to give it more depth, character, and function. Now, you can wait for sundown, light the fire and bring in the family with some marshmallows, meat, and beer.

Conclusion

Building a fire pit may seem easy, but it’s a daunting task. You need to source the right materials, get equipped with a lot of tools, and execute the steps with plenty of care and elbow grease. If things seem overwhelming, you can always search for “landscape companies near me” and hire professionals to get the job done.