Make an Inexpensive Backyard Fire Pit

Gretchen
by Gretchen
When we moved into our house, our backyard was a big (we have a half acre lot), empty, BORING blank slate. We'd had a small, portable fire pit at our old house and loved it, so we knew that we'd get a lot of use out of a more permanent fire pit here.
We picked up flagstones for the actual fire pit and then a bunch of pea gravel to make a circle around the pit (good for the occasional spark that jumps out and makes it easier to mow/weed around the fire pit).
The process isn't complicated, but there is a good bit of manual labor involved. It helps if you have a crew of elementary aged children to help you dig :). We measured out the size circle we wanted and dug up the grass.
Then spread out the pea gravel.
And then stacked the flagstone in a ring, three stones deep. We used the metal bowl from our old portable fire pit in the middle, but it would work fine with no metal bowl or you could probably pick one up on Craigslist inexpensively.
Then sit back and enjoy your marshmallows! We've had ours for awhile now, and it's been such a great way to enjoy the backyard. One thing I will say that we'd have done differently is to put some kind of lining down under the pea gravel. Weeds weren't a big problem at first, but they've gotten worse as time's gone by. Digging the gravel up and putting something down under it is on the agenda for this fall, but it would have been a lot easier to do it when we were first making it!
Gretchen
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Gillian Gillian on Sep 08, 2018

    I would love to try this. My home is in desperate need of repairs. I think, i can manage to do this on my own. Thanks for a very detailed description!

  • Lauren of Mom Home Guide Lauren of Mom Home Guide on Jul 02, 2020

    Looks great! How many blocks did you use for your fire pit!

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