Fire Pit

[harpoonalt]

We bought a chimnea but it just wasn't big enough for having people over. We saw a rocksolid episode on DIY about firepits and that was that. And since my daughters boyfriend is a mason, who due to the economy is unemployed, we thought this is the perfect time. So here we go. Day one was layout and dig the hole. The rocksolid guys built one 5' in diameter but the boss said that was weenie so ours will be 6' outside diameter, foot thick walls and 4' inside. Great place to kick back and relax around the fire. The hole wasn't to bad but I did have 3 rocks that the had to have a little sledgehammer time. I need the exercise anyway. Hopefully day 2 is concrete.

 

[jd2305cd]

Nice, saw that same show.... We are going to put one on our patio when we start build it.. Keep the pictures coming..

 

[harpoonalt]

Day 2. Kyle, the mason, explained to me that although very nice, my hole was bigger, deeper, and more rock free than it needed to be. What should have been 8 bags or so of concrete turned into 18 and we even found some of those rock pieces to throw back in. If we decide to can the firepit, I do believe I have enough concrete to build a small missile silo.
The weather man said 60's and fair. It's in the 50's and rainy. Regardless, the concrete is done and level. If we can get the rock here on time, the fun starts this weekend. The tractor has been great. All the hole material got carted away and the concrete was put right in the bucket and brought over to the pit without a lot of bending over.

 

[jd2305cd]

You going to line with fire brick? Whats your game plan brotha...

BTW it looks good so far...

 

[mcfly682]

Keep the updates and pics coming bud. This looks like some good info for a firepit ive been wanting to put in. Thanks for sharing this.

 

[harpoonalt]

Normally I'd be sound asleep by now, but since 10 pm a very nice female voice has been announcing "low battery"about every half hour. After checking the various "battery" stuff I finally figured out it was the smoke detector. So now I'm wide awake.
anyway.......the plan is to line it with firebrick and the walls will be a grayish fieldstone that will match the rock in the rock farm in my back yard. If funds permit the outer ring you can see in the pictures will be either a bluestone or slate for a circular seating area around the fire. I'm keeping tabs on the money spent and it's going to cost more than I had thought. I'll break down the costs as I get farther in so you can get an idea. The biggest holdup for me now is getting the stone I want. It seems that all the stone places don't really gear up till May. Hopefully It comes tomorrow and the project continues this weekend.

 

[harpoonalt]

So we have 2 pallets of stone coming tomorrow and I got the firebrick this morning. Sometimes things line up just right. I got a ton of masons sand in my trailer and put it next to our work area for tomorrow. Trailer and sand weigh in at about 3000 lbs. The BX moves it no problem but I still go slow and stay off the banks. The trailer mover is great. I keep it on all summer. I use it for trailer loads of mulch so I can drive right up to the beds and use it around the yard and neighborhood as a mobile work platform. Bring all the tools, drop it, do our work then bring everything on home. Works great. So tomorrow we should see something above ground.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon harpoonalt,
Very nice, must be great to have a talented mason at your disposal !

Keep the pics comin along with future progress !

 

[harpoonalt]

Saturday, sunny and 80+ degrees. The rock is delivered. Maybe I should have asked, but it came in a dump truck on 2 pallets and was "dumped". The morning was spent sorting rock and putting it near the work area. I would have had him dump it closer but I didn't want him driving over my water line. Hey, more tractor time. We have 2 courses of brick up and some stone started. I'm learning as we go, but the thing is one big puzzle. The brick is easy but you have to find that one stone to fit. That will be slow. We're undecided on our height so we are giving it the "chair" test as we go. Today should go faster since we know better what we're doing.

 

[harpoonalt]

Not much exciting happened today. We decided on 3 courses of fire brick. The finished height should be around 18". For fire viewing and performance that appears to be a good height. We used a lot less brick for a bigger pit than the DIY guys. I'm assuming their bricks were sized different. They called for 60 bricks and we used 48. The brick is done and we're onto just stone. Some goes easy and sometimes you spend a half hour for that one stone to fit. Today should be close to finish if we get an early start. Then it's on to the patio portion. If we get it done today I'll post pictures and break out the costs for everyone.

 

[jd2305cd]

Forget the cost we want to see FIRE!.... Looks great..

Did you put any rebar in the footer? Also I think they used more bricks because the put them the other way.. So the inner wall would be thicker.

 

[EddieWalker]

Great project. I like the use of the rock allot. Are you going to leave the bottom dirt? How are you going to cap the rock and fire brick?

Thanks for the pics, it's fun to follow along with your progress.

Eddie

 

[Ford850]

It's looking good. Can you tell us the mortar mix ratio your mason is using? Thanks.

 

[scott_vt]

It's looking good. Can you tell us the mortar mix ratio your mason is using? Thanks.

Good Mornin Mark,
When I built my little barbeque grill, I just used plain motar mix from the bag, and mixed in the water until I got the right consistency. Kept my bricks wet and put it together.

Of course Im no mason !

 

[jd2305cd]

Good Mornin Mark,
When I built my little barbeque grill, I just used plain motar mix from the bag, and mixed in the water until I got the right consistency. Kept my bricks wet and put it together.

Of course Im no mason !

I think you can added a shovel of lime to the mix as well to give added strength. dry mix first, then mix it up to play dough consistency...

Of course Im no mason!

 

[harpoonalt]

Thanks for all the nice comments! I'm just the lugger and toter. Kyle, the mason, is the doing a real nice job and teaching me a few things along the way. We did put rebar in the footing and the mortar is 2 parts masonry sand to one part masonry cement. Much cheaper than buying the premix. Hopefully we'll get it capped today and pictures tonight. The inside we're unsure of. I may put in some sort of stone or sand, but i'm open to suggestions. Then it's on to the patio portion. Should be just as much fun and just as much totin' and lifting

 

[harpoonalt]

Today was a long day as it was pretty hot. The firepit is pretty well done except for cleaning out the inside and putting in some stone which is what I think we;re going to do. Sorry no fire pictures for a few days as he wants it to cure for a bit before we do a fire. The patio portion is next but may be on hold due to some social obligations. The total cost was in the $1200 range.$630 for stone, $50 for fire brick, $20 for sand, $50 for mortar, $80 for concrete, and $400 for labor. My labor was free. I dug the hole, laid out stone, and mixed some mortar. The tractor really made things a lot easier so I had to sneak it in the final shots.

 

[CTW]

The best shot is with the Bota in the background Mighty fine looking firepit, enjoy.

 

[jd2305cd]

You going to put stone in the bottom? I would leave it dirt if it was me... We clean out our camp fire pit out once a year and its a lot easier to clean by just ramming in a shovel... Just my two cents...

Its looks great, came out really well... good work...

 

[crbr]

Nice project. Thanks for sharing with the pics.