Want to know how to build a firepit? A do-it-yourself firepit is a great way to liven up your lawn. In fact, building a simple and useful one in your backyard is easy. Just follow the seven steps below and you and your guests will be sitting around the fire making s’mores in no time!
How to Build a Backyard Firepit in 7 Easy Steps
Step 1. Gather Building Materials
Before constructing a firepit in your backyard, you first have to gather building materials. For the actual firepit, you’ll need rectangular retaining wall blocks, clay fire blocks, gravel paver base, and lava rocks. You’ll also need to get a shovel, steel tamper, level, and concrete glue. You can buy these materials and tools from most hardware stores or home depots near you.
Step 2. Choose a Spot in Your Backyard
The next step is to choose a spot in your backyard where you’ll build the firepit. Pick one that’s far away from your house and isn’t close to overhanging tree branches or anything that can accidentally catch fire. Your best bet is a spot smack in the middle of your lawn.
Step 3. Create the Layout of Your Firepit
On your chosen spot, lay down a couple of retaining wall blocks and make a base. You can make the base as large or small as you like. You can build a firepit by lining-up the bricks side by side. Once you’re happy with its size and shape, take a shovel and use it to mark the outline of the base onto the grass.
Step 4. Prepare the Base of Your Firepit
Set the base wall blocks aside and dig a two-inch deep crater within the outline. Get the steel tamper and use it to press down the loose soil. Use the leveling tool to ensure the soil stays nice and even. When the crater is tamped down and level, fill it half-way with gravel paver base. Lightly wet the paver base with water and tamp it down to an even layer. Repeat this step until you’ve put down two layers of paver base.
Step 5. Build the Walls of Your Firepit
Take the wall blocks you set aside and lay them over the paver base. This is the first layer of the firepit wall. Stack another layer of wall blocks over this to create a second and third layer. When you’re happy with how the blocks are stacked, stick them together using concrete glue.
Tip: Don’t align the blocks perfectly when you stack them. Make sure to lay the second and third layers in staggered stacks.
Step 6. Finish the Firepit
Once the walls of the firepit are up, fill it halfway with more gravel paver base. Spread the paver base as evenly as you can. Next, line the inside walls of the firepit with thin clay fire blocks. You then fill the pit three-quarters of the way with lava rocks.
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