A firepit offers the comfort and awe of a fireplace – outside! It also offers a full 360° experience for you, your loved ones, and friends – for s’mores, drinks, hors-d’oeuvres, or some late night chatting. Not to mention, it can improve your property’s value when you’re preparing to sell your home.
If you’re interested in and inspired to have a firepit in your backyard oasis, you can with these DIY tips for creating a homemade, in-ground firepit.
1) Mind The Weather
If you’re in a location where winters are especially cold, you may want to wait until the spring or summer to build you in-ground firepit, as the ground may be too frozen to dig up. It won’t be impossible to accomplish, but early-fall, spring, or summer are the best times to undertake this particular project.
2) Call 811
Next, call 811 – the number required to call before you begin to dig on your property in order to prevent unintentionally hitting an underground utility line. Someone will arrive on your property a few days after you make the call to mark your property appropriately and keep you and your family and neighbors safe.
3) Acquire Necessary Items
In the meantime, acquire the necessary items such as a shovel for digging and materials for lining and protecting your firepit. This includes stones to line the sides, dry-stacked to create a wall, and smaller stones and/or bricks to line the inside.
4) The Big Dig
After the area is marked and inspected, you can begin digging! You can easily make this a group project with your family member or a friend. Keep in mind, a homemade firepit should be at least 12-inches deep and 4 feet in diameter.
Once the fire-pit meets the required dimensions, you can begin adding the materials to it. First, dry-stack the stones on the side of the pit to your desired height (recommended: at least two layers). Then, add and layer stones and bricks on the inside of the fire-pit, as desired. Make sure, however, that the inner layers of your firepit aren’t packed in too tightly and there’s room for drainage – you don’t want rain to pool in your firepit as a big stand-still puddle. In addition, you will need chairs and possibly even small end tables to create the full atmosphere and hang-out that is crucial for a full fire-pit experience. A solid portable Bluetooth speaker wouldn’t hurt here, either.
Also, for an easy an affordable cover, you can purchase a large piece of outdoor-appropriate plywood from a supply store to pull over the top of the firepit.
Enjoy
Invite some friends and family over and enjoy! Even if you live in or are considering to move to a warm area like Miami, consider a late-night ugly sweater party around your new fire-pit, complete with s’mores and Mexican hot chocolate.
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