For several years now I’ve been meaning to do something with the large pile of flagstone that’s been sitting out back, but never really made the effort to get something moving and in place. However, now with the advent of summertime and the presence of some cheap and willing labor (locationally-captive Aussie brother-in-law Sam), I decided it was high time to replace my old and worn wrought-iron fire-containment device with something a bit more robust and built out of good old-fashioned ROCK. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to play with the Handyman’s Playdough — CONCRETE!

To start, I used a rope attached by a slip knot to a pole to mark an inner circle; this would be the size of the inside of the pit where the fire would burn. It would then be ringed by a flagstone wall to enclose it. For the time being, I shoved a bunch of stakes (actually pieces of 1/2″ CPVC water piping I had spare) into the ground around the perimeter of the pit so I would know where my edges were. Then Sam and I manned some shovels and cleared out the sod in a ring around it approximately a foot and a half wide.

Here is Sam, proud of his digging ability (which was pretty darn good). You can see that the sod has been removed and the underlying soil leveled with some raking and hoeing.

Here is some of the flagstone that we used, but in reality we went through probably 4 times this amount.

The pile of sod after we cleared out the flange of the fire pit. At first, I was going to use it to fill in places around the lawn that were a bit…unwell…but I think the bulk will make it into the compost pile to provide inspiration to the rotting process.

Here we have fit all the flange stone into the ground ontop of a sand base to try to prevent drainage and flexing issues. Shortly after this we mixed up standard pre-mix mortar concerte mix to a slightly-more-than-sloppy consistency and used it to fill in all the spaces between the rock. The application of some fingers and shaping and it came out pretty well.

With the flange stones finished and cemented in place, we cleared out the middle of the pit to even it out and make it smooth.

We started putting stones around the inner pit circle by mortaring them to the inner part of the flange, which took a holy-hell-awful lot of mortar to get things evened out.

Sam Jacobs: He will, He will, ROCK YOU.

Three layers done! As we went, we’d leave various gaps in the wall for ventilation to the fire (air holes, that is). This actually turned out to be a really good design decision, as they look completely natural (like a natural crevice) and they helped us make some fitting decisions, where we couldn’t get some stones to line up quite right — more than once we stepped back and went, “Ok — air hole!” You can see one such hole underneath the large flat stone in the foreground.

We were fairly sloppy with the mortar as we went (you can see that evidence on this picture), but we cleaned up after we got done each day. You can also see some of the rock that we cut (far side, bright, straight line on the inner rock face) with a masonary blade on the circular saw. Usually we could just score it halfway through and then use a hammer and cold chisel to make it break along the line. This helped tremendously as we were able to adjust some stones that would have otherwise been unusable, and it’s a lot more accurate than just whacking them with a hammer and hoping for a good break.

After five layers, we had an inspector show up to check out the project. He was a pretty critical little guy, checking out the construction, the mortar, and whether it was sturdy, but in the end he gave it his seal of approval. (My son, Keston.)

        

Six layers of rock later, we have a finished product! It’s about a foot and a half high, give or take, and about 4.5 – 5 feet across. As it turns out from our testing last night by starting a big-ass fire in it, it’s the perfect size.

The bottom of the actual fire pit itself we lined with small chunks of broken flagstone, all of a similar thickness and shape. The idea was to keep it open so rainwater would drain away quickly and not create a “bowl” where the water would collect, but still give a firmer surface than just dirt on which to build a fire. So far, I’m terribly pleased with how this both looks and performs with a fire.

FIRE! Heh-heh…FIRE! It was, if I can use the term, a raging success.

With a bit of camera magic (slowing down the shutter speed), you can see the placement of the ring in the backyard and how it looks to human eyes that are adjusted. Fits in perfectly.

One of the ventilation holes that we purposely (or creatively) built into the wall with some glowing embers behind.

Look at those coals! Lovely, and perfect for a set of s’mores, which we gave a shot last evening and declared a perfect victory.

So that’s our new fire pit — if you’re ever in the area, you’ll have to come by and sit a spell! A HUGE thanks to the awesome and talented Sam for all his help!