How To Build A Fire Pit
KEEP WARM AND COSY THIS WINTER
Staying warm while still using and enjoying your garden space in Winter can be challenging with all the cold rain and freezing temperatures. Having a fire pit in the garden is one way to prolong an evening outdoors around a cosy fire with good company or just you and the stars above. Here we give you some DIY ideas on how to build a fire pit in your garden as well as some amazing images of what is possible!
HISTORY OF THE FIRE PIT
Traditionally a fire-pit was just that, a pit in the ground, where people would build a fire, keeping it safely contained and where they could eat and sleep around it, slightly elevated above it, to guarantee maximum warmth. Man’s first use of a fire pit dates back to the Middle Paleolithic period, some 200,000-400,000 years ago. Archeological evidence from sites such as the Klasies River Caves in South Africa shows that fire pits were made using a collection of stones to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading. Other cultures throughout history used a simple hole in the ground filled with hot coals and stones for both warmth and for in-ground cooking. Peruvians, Eastern Indians, and many Polynesian cultures used in-ground fire pits to cook for large numbers of people during times of festival, harvest and religious ceremony.
MODERN FIRE PITS
Today fire pits are used mainly as a space for casual outdoor dining and relaxing. They can be as simple as a modern shaped bowl with a bright gas flame that is more a talking piece than somewhere to cook outdoors. Or they can be very elaborate steel, stone and concrete structures that allow built-in seating, cooking facilities and reclining space. Everything in between seems to go as well and many gardeners and home-owners build their own to suit their house style, budget and needs. Raised circular or square pits allow one to sit around the pit on chairs or benches and still feel the warmth of the flames and have easy access to the fire for cooking or adding more wood or charcoal. Sunken fire pits with sunken seating around the central fire, create an even more cosy space with the sides of the pit adding insulating warmth, closeness, privacy and further protection from the wind.
WHERE TO POSITION YOUR FIRE PIT
When it comes to garden constructions, make sure that you put your fire pit not too close to neighbouring walls if any part of it requires a foundation. Anything requiring foundations in your garden will also require planning permission from council. Next make sure that there are no low overhanging trees above your intended spot or you may end up with more of a garden bonfire than a cosy pit. Position your fire pit somewhere where you can have privacy from roads and neighbours in case you get a little too rowdy down there late at night. Planting shrubs to buffer the area and give privacy can also help with this. Also be considerate of your neighbours and check the prevailing wind direction. They may not take too kindly to your new ‘geselshout’-burning obsession if their house is filled with smoke every night. Wood that is wet also smokes much more, so try and keep your wood as dry as possible.
HOW TO BUILD A FIRE PIT
There are many designs and styles of fire pit one can construct but if you are wanting to create a simple DIY one at home, then the easiest is to dig an in-ground pit, rather than an above-ground one that will require a square or circular footing for the bricks or stones to rest on. A simple one meter diameter circular pit will ensure that it is big enough to get a large fire burning, yet intimate enough for people to sit around without feeling too scorched. This simple, affordable fire pit by Attempting Green, shows you step by step how to build a simple one for burning weeds, wood and the occasional marshmallow. Link here.
If you are keen to try your hand at a raised, circular brick fire pit that is a more permanent structure in the garden, then this website by Home Handyman has a very good step-by-step guide for the more adventurous ones out there. Link here.
We love this simple yet striking fire pit made with welded stainless steel sheets by The Brick House blog. Link here. Only thing is it is not to child-friendly as the sides may become extremely hot…and beware if you also sipping on a few too many glasses of sherry as stumbling against the side of this could be rather painful…but who said beauty is always painless!
Simplicity is taken even further with this simple bowl idea. Re-purposing an old garden pot could work just as easily and heat-resistant materials like fired Terracotta will ensure that they shouldn’t crack when light your first fire in it. Low-sided, wide bowls make the most elegant fire pit containers where the flames can still be seen and the warmth felt when placed on the ground.
Or how about this amazing creation that fuses sculpture and functions to create an amazing piece. One could commission a steel maker to make a custom one with your own design. This would be quite the talking piece and definitely needs a dramatic setting to show it off.
For further information on fire pits please contact the Fire Pit Company.