Masonry Fire Pit

This fire Pit has become the main attraction at our house. We have since made a habit of sitting out here with or without an actual fire. The stone was a potpourri of closeouts. The bricks were picked up cheap from a job that never used some over orders. The block, sand, and mortar are just everyday Lowes stuff. All said and done I probably had $200 in it. If I had to buy the other stuff at regular price it would probably be around $500. Plus sweat.

The back wall being higher was just an idea I had thinking that it might help with the wind and smoke. And it never hurts to be a little different. I didn't include pics of me actually spreading mortar or buttering bricks because it's not how you need to learn. Either watch youtube, work in the trade for a couple years, or stalk a contractor in your neighborhood till he lets you watch.

When we first decided to build a fire pit I went surfing the web. The pic above was the jist of what I wanted. Seating on the pit and open on one side that you can sit in front of also. And homemade modern's square pit was a must.

The only thing with me is I have some stone and brick remnants from a place called General Shale Brick. They were closing out some old stock and I got a ton of one off stuff. I've been sitting on it a while, so it's time to put it in the ground

Arriscraft stone-70 sft

Eldorado 12x48 mantle-6

closure bricks

30-4" blocks

5 bags-Type S mortar

1-bag of fireclay

20-bags of quikrete 5000

Trowel

Hammer

Shovels

Mixer(really Helps)

Levels

Starting with the foundation. I used a tiller to soften up all of the dirt before extracting it.

Mixed and poured the quikrete in one afternoon. I tried to get it as level as possible.

The next phase was laying the 4" block. The brick at the bottom are arranged to level up the block.

Then It's just a matter of laying the block on the pattern. I left the front open so that I would have somewhere to stand while I was laying the brick on the inside.

The herringbone pattern is one of my all time favorites. If I had the time, I would use this anytime I laid bricks.

This is no standard size brick. It is called a closure. It's a commercial grade brick that is 4"x8". It is so easy to lay, even a cave man can do it. Sereiously, I have to guess that because it's 4 instead of 2 inches. Who knows.

I mixed one bag of S type mortar and added a bag of fireclay. It is a refractive additive. Helps to keep the brick from cooking the block internally.

This is a man made limestone rock. it is a modular design. That means the height is the same as brick courses. some are as tall as 1, 2, or three bricks. So as long as you stagger your lines it will all keep itself in line. But I did not realize that there were some 4" stone in my pile also. That threw awrench in my program. But it all worked itself out.

The caps are 12" by 48". The layout of my pit called for some 45* cuts. I used a 7 1/4" circular saw with a masonry blade.

So far, we have cooked a few smores, drank a couple glasses of wine, and smoked a couple of (Wild N Mild) Backwoods Cigars. This could possibly be "the" thing for the summer.