Sunday, June 12, 2011

DIY Fire Pit

So this weekend was pretty fabulous...
My best friend... Maddux's GodMom came down up to stay with us for the weekend, We celebrated my grandpas birthday with some Meatloaf and Euchre at our place.... then ended the weekend with Smores :)

I desperately want to give our little cement patio a makeover... so Lauren I went downstiars to check the basement to see if Rod left any cement paint down there... He did. So we assumed JackPot! so we got some painting clothes on.... went outside dumped the paint out... and (dum.. dum... dum...) barely any in there. so we painted  a small square section for fun... and that was that... so maybe next weekend I can finish that project (fingers crossed)

But today I thought I would share our little DIY firepit.
I found someone with an old firepit they no longer wanted... so i could use the bowl... Thank goodness!!! Because I was having no luck with garage sales or Craigslist.
We went to lows and bought some cheap garden paver stone thing a ma jigs.... for about a 1.20 a piece or so. I think we ended up with ... 25 or so?
So this piece all together cost somewhere around 30 bucks....

 Update:
I have had a few people that have had a hard time finding these blocks and are running into higher priced blocks... We used THESE
They do have 12 inch ones at about 1.60 which would work... and you would use less. so its really up to you. and you could use any bricks you can find :) This is just what worked for us

So here is everything you need... to DIY a fire pit :)

Build a base of bricks... Hopefully you have two adorable guys doing it for you...



Double Check your work to make sure everything is stable and secure... Check

Meanwhile... keep your dogs away from the firepit.... Check


Hot husband making the fire.... Check.



Adorable marshmallow stealer...

 And as a result... a super cute fire pit... for 30 bucks. Yay!!!!!!!








Linked up at Tatertots and Jello!
UndertheTableandDreaming

 
Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

191. Roasted Marshmallows
192. Weekends with my Bestie.
193. Early morning runs
194. Maddux's chubby feet in sandals. cutest thing ever
195. Nala's snuggling


70 comments:

  1. Cute :) I'm about to do this myself. Tip: if you flip the top stones over, it will get rid of that weird lip around the top. I just used those same pavers to do my front retaining wall and I had to do the same thing:)

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  2. My husband really wanted a fire pit so we ended up buying him one. We should have done this! Great idea:) I'm a new follower!

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  3. Very cute!! We have a Chiminia but I want a fire pit also. Great idea!!

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  4. Awesome! Our dream is to have a fire pit in our backyard, and this is a great way to do it! Great idea! Visiting from TT&J :)

    Check out what I made this week at:
    http://chrissyandnathan.blogspot.com/2011/06/whats-for-dinner.html

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  5. Hi there- found you through Tater Tots's hop and am a new follower. This is a perfect project for my husband! He will like it so much- it looks so sturdy! I hope you have time to follow my life in South Africa by http://withoutcomplexities.blogspot.com

    Have a great weekend!

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  6. This is awesome. New follower. Your helper is adorable...

    laura@imnotatrophywife.com

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  7. Visiting from Sunday Showcase....I love your firepit! We have been wanting to do something like this and never thought of using these paver things. Thanks for sharing your awesome idea!
    ~Cindy

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  8. i'm a bit slower than all your followers....can you tell me what you used for the "top" of your fire pit? thank you

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    1. An old charcoal grill bowl :) I found one someone else was throwing out... :)

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  9. Jan Moon - I used an old fire pit I recieved free from someone. We took a saw and cut off the legs... so we were just left with the bowl. I have seen people do these without the bowl. but for me it seems safer with it. depends on how much you will use it :) Hope that helps!

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  10. We did something similar, but only used one ring of bricks around it. We used the top bowl from a charcoal grill someone was throwing out (took the legs off - they pull off).

    There is nothing like cooking a meal over a wood fire! It tastes better than charcoal or propane.

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  11. My husband plans on making one as well...I'll show him this one...it looks sooo easy. Love the Cubbies hat!

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  12. Your little helper looks so cute! Love the firepit too - isn't it so nice to sit around in the evenings and watch the embers glow?

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  13. I love this idea - I think I need to show this one to hubby.

    danielle

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  14. Hi I found you on Under the Table and Dreaming... My husband and I made a fire pit just like that this weekend.. check us out...
    http://www.homeroad.net/2011/06/building-firepit.html
    Susan @ homeroad.net

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  15. I wanted to let you know that I featured this in my "What I Bookmarked This Week" post today - stop by and grab a button.

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  16. GREAT JOB!! We are just getting ready to make one and this looks great and most importantly for us it is affordable! Found you on pinterest. I am your newest follower! Kristy from www.apronsandapples.blogspot.com PS featuring your project with a link back tomorrow!

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  17. Hi, Fawn. I looked all over your blog, and couldn't find an email address, so I'm commenting instead of emailing you. I just wrote up my blog post for tomorrow's "Friday's Favorites", and I'm featuring your firepit. We are having our patio poured on Tuesday, and will be getting on the firepit task asap. Thanks for having a great idea. Feel free to pop over to my blog tomorrow to see your feature.

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  18. What an awesome idea! My best friend just moved and really wants a fire pit area for her huge backyard!! I will show her this post! Great tip!

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  19. What a great idea! I'm showing this to the hubbs, hopefully we can find an old firepit on freecycle. (:

    Also, found you via Pinterest and repinned here: http://pinterest.com/pin/168424248/ Thanks!!

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  20. Love this! My husband and I are about to move from 100+ heat in Texas to cool weather in the Bay Area of California...this will definitely be one of the first things we do in our backyard :)

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  21. This is a great idea! Especially seeing as it's coming up to summer here. And the best thing is, it's movable! How cool

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  22. HI!!!

    LOVE this fire pit! But where did you get the 'bowl'? Im confused about that part! LOL

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  23. @Beth Ann We took it from an old firepit we got for free.

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  24. That's how it only cost $30...I have been trying to find a bowl for our fire pit...not as lucky as you! I want one for our pit, but they are getting rather high!...I'll keep looking!

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    1. Did you ever find an inexpensive pit bowl? Ours has a hole in it from too many fires. Looking for a new bowl. the rest is fine.

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    2. Have you tried searching craigslist for an old charcoal grill is someone is getting rid of? When people start replacing their grills this spring sometimes they are easier to find. then just saw off the legs and you will have a bowl. Otherwise you could use the fire proof rings and fill the bottom with sand/gravel. that might work too! :)

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  25. One of the best DIYs I've seen!! Love this!!

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  26. Ok, I am so excited to find this! Hubby and I have been discussing doing something like this in our yard. Thanks for the info!

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  27. I so plan on doing this, thanks for the great idea! For the 'bowl' if you are not as lucky as they were and can get a free grill bottom, you can use what is call a 'disc harrow blade' they are like $15 off eBay. It is fairly thick steel made for plowing so it does fine with the fire. You can either weld some little legs on it or put a couple of bricks under it. Good luck!

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  28. How many pavers did you use per layer? Thanks!!

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  29. @GretnaMom

    I used 30 of them. 10 per each layer.
    That was the best fit for the bowl I had... If you have a smaller bowl you may need less...Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!

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  30. I salvaged an old metal washing machine drum to make a fire pit. My plan is to dig out some and set it in the ground some and then surround it with the bricks...
    Yours is very classy, mine will be more trailer park chic LOL

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  31. i love this idea. i would advise DIYers to make sure their brick/blocks are fire safe. using random brick and pavers from the hardware store or from what you have on hand is not safe as they can explode when they get hot.

    that said, now i know what to do with my old grill! :)

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  32. Love this idea. We had free 12in. pavers/bricks which did not work as well. On your link it showed 8in. bricks, that is probably best. We made due with the 12in because they were free. We got our fire pit on black friday for a steal of a deal so I think the whole thing cost us $30 (just for the pit). Our pit (legs and all) sit inside our brick ring due to the 12in bricks. Hope this helps out other DIYer's!

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  33. @Andrew Thanks for the suggestion Andrew, just looked that up, and found ASC has them from 12.95 on up 14" to 36" in diameter, cool!!

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  34. We are looking to build a fire pit as well. This looks great. Thanks for the link to the bricks. New follower! http://gaelstreasures.blogspot.com/

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  35. I just did this myself. I'm not sure where you are located, but at Menard's in the midwest you can get these same bricks for 68 cents a piece. I did all the brick work for $28. Also, I purchased some 22" cooking grates and used masonry screws to attach some hooks inside the firepit so I could drop the grates in and make a removable charcoal grill.

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  36. Great idea! New follower found you from Pinterest. WE are wanting to make one so jst to find the bowl
    Rebecca

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  37. does anyone know if a round feed trough sprayed with heat resistant paint would work for the fire bowl? not finding a bowl anyplace and trying to improv.

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  38. Hey everyone, just did this project today with the 12 inch pavers and they worked great! Needed 9 per row and got a great deal on the pit at Walmart for $29. Left the legs off and just used the bowl. Thought I'd share since it seems like everyone was having trouble locating a good price fire pit. :)

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  39. Looks great, we're planning on doing this at the lake house. We were ready to purchase a kit from Rural King for $199....this is so AWESOME!

    @dandelionpicker: if you turn the bricks over that back lip will cause them to pull inwards and you'll end up w/a pyramid shape in stead of the round circle.

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  40. Do you think you could build this on the grass without it ruining the grass beneath?

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  41. You can use an old HUGE tire rim as well. Great tip. Thank you!

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  42. Hoping to talk the hubby into taking on this project over the weekend, could you tell me the diameter of your fire bowl? We have one that we can use, I just want to make sure that the same number of bricks would work for ours as it did for yours. Also, would the legs have fit into the bowl, or did you just choose to take them off? Your project looks great, I look forward to following your blog! (I found this project via pinterest)

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    1. The legs wouldn't have fit for us. Unfortunately we have moved and we have not put this back up yet. I am unsure of the diameter. Once we get it back up I can let you know. I would love to know how this works out for you! Thank you for stopping by!

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  43. What size bowl would you need for the 8" 10/3 row and the 12" 9/3 row pit?

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  44. I am renting my home and I love that this isn't a permanent fixture. We can build this and then take it down when we leave. Gonna do this soon. So cute.

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  45. @jan moon
    I was wondering the same thing.. that's the reason I came to read this post and was disappointed at this missing step.

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    1. Rick it does say in the blog post that I used an old charcoal grill. that is what I used for the bowl. Hope that helps!

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  46. @Rick and @Jan moon

    It does say in the blog post that I used a very old grill we got for free. Which we sawed off the legs from. Hope that helps!!!!

    Please let me know if you have any further questions.

    Thanks!

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  47. Hi, I LOVE THIS IDEA!!!! Im wondering if you have to remove the grass underneath the pit? Is it a fire hazard if you dont remove it? I thought I'd just maybe cover it with sand and some rocks but I don't know. Thanks! -

    PS UR BABY IS ADORABLE!

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    1. If you are using a bowl for the fire pit... I dont think the grass would matter. However if you are not... then I would suggest using rocks. to cover the grass. I am not positive though. wish i could be more help!

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  48. LOVE this! Where did you find the black fire pit to put over the stone?

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    1. I used an old charcoal grill that I picked up for free on craigslist. I sawed off the legs then built my stone base around that. :) People are always throwing out their old charcoal grills..

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  49. Did you "glue" your stones together somehow as you were building it?

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    1. No, the stones we used interlocked so we did not have a need to glue them together. We wanted something temporary. so this worked out perfectly for us. I have seen quite a few tutorials where they have more permanent options. I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by! :)

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  50. I am going to try to create a fire safe base and add some locking casters to make this fire pit movable. Anyone have any tips??

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    1. I am not sure how to make it moveable with casters. this one is moveable on its own because I did not use anything to mortar it together so the stones come apart easily. I would love to know what you come up with if you are able to put it on casters though!

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  51. Love the idea! We have been looking for a little something extra for our new house's back yard. My husband asked me to look into an outdoor fire pit. Thanks so much for your step by step instructions. We'll have to work on getting one of those "adorable marshmallow stealers" haha! Thanks so much for sharing.

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  52. I love hanging out around a fire pit on cool nights. The fall season is my favorite because the nights are just cold enough to appreciate the fire, but not too frigid; the smell that comes with fall is also a great experience. Did you build the fire ring, or buy it?

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    1. We used an old fire pit bowl... we just sawed off the legs and placed it in the stones. I believe an old charcoal grill would work also.
      Thank you for stopping by!

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  53. I love this idea! Now we just have to figure out the bowl - I'm always looking for inventive substitutes. I'll let you know if I find anything!
    http://jillienedesigns.blogspot.com/

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    1. I would love to know if you find something other than an old fire pit! I have been waiting to see if anyone uses an old charcoal grill :)

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  55. You could also cut a 55 gallon metal drum in half to use as the pit. Then put the bricks around it.

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  56. You can also cut a 55 gallon metal drum in half to use as your inner pit then just set the blocks up around it.

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  57. how did you get your to be a perfect cylinder? Does the "lip" on the blocks get in the way? or did you cut it off?

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