I thought about opening the railing and putting a lower area with a fire pit!?
How far away for safety using a fire pit?
How can I make a nice area with a sitting area and a fire pit .
by Lona
+3
I have a nice deck on the back of my house. I’d like to build a diy fire pit not to far from it, one that I could also cook over. How far should it be from my wood deck? And what kind of material should surround it to make it a functional and nice looking addition and or extension to my back yard?!
5 answers
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![V Smith]()
V Smith
on Dec 29, 2017
Did you know that tree roots can absorb the heat from a firepit and spread the fire? If you build a fire pit make sure that it is up off the ground. Your local code officer should be able to tell you how far your fire must be from the deck. -
![Robyn Garner]()
Robyn Garner
on Dec 29, 2017
I agree - call your local code enforcement office (in City Hall) to find out what the regulations are.
I would think that if you purchase a fire pit bowl and put all the necessary items around it (heat/fire proof pavers, etc.) that all should be fine. -
![V Smith]()
V Smith
on Dec 29, 2017
Also, some codes don't allow for a fire pit unless you have large lot. -
![Nancy Turner]()
Nancy Turner
on Dec 30, 2017
The suggestions about finding out if there are codes to follow are very good suggestions. When we moved into our house, there was a truck rim used as a fire pit in back, but it only went about a foot in the ground and was very small. We used the same area and dug a hole about two and a half feet deep and two and a half feet across, We lined it with cement around the entire hole and the bottom. We put a drainage hole in the bottom so rain wouldn't accumulate in the hole down to the soil in the middle. We purchase one of those removable cooking grates and put the tube you inset the grate into right in the cement on the side. This way if we have the pit going we can barbeque if we want to. We used three quarter round bricks as there were quite a few used in an area along the house that we had removed as quite a few were missing. We grouted them, but was used didn't like the heat, so it cracked and a number of them are now loose. We are probably going to redo that this summer with something that will be more heat tolerant. We enjoy using this and we also use it for burning the many branches that fall off the extremely mature trees in our yard and those that hang over into our yard. -
![Inetia]()
Inetia
on Dec 31, 2017
You can purchase fire pits for outdoors and they're not that expensive. You can spend a little more and get propane fire pits. I've really enjoyed mine. Roasted many a hotdog and marshmallow on it. Great for older kids slumber parties. This link has pits you can purchase.https://www.google.com/search?q=outdoor+firepits&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-abThis link has many cool diy ideas.https://morningchores.com/fire-pits/
Robyn Garner
on Dec 29, 2017
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