diy fire pit

Here is an easy to make fire pit for that at-home camping experience. I built this fire pit with found bricks and cement from an old sidewalk. Other found, liberated, or re-appropriated materials, were rocks, sand, and gravel. I added a copper bowl later. It took me a few hours to make.


Materials: pea gravel, sand, bricks (enough to make a circle), rocks, and reused sidewalk cement
Tools: shovel and trowel


1. Choose a location for the fire pit that is 25 feet away from trees, buildings, etc. 

2. Mark the area you will dig for the fire pit. Dig out the hole for the pit. Dig down about 10 inches. If you are using a fire ring, dig the hole to the size of the ring.

3. Fill the hole with pea gravel and then a layer of sand. This will stop any fire from spreading out of the pit to tree roots.

4. If you are using a fire ring place the ring in the pit. Place bricks around the pit. It helps to have the type of bricks that form a circle. See the photos. I used one row of bricks but you could use two layers. 
5. Place broken pieces of concrete abound the brick (this can be substituted with flagstone but used and discarded concrete is much much cheeper or free). Place the concrete or stone like a jigsaw puzzle so the pieces fit together like a sun shape around the pit. See photo. Place smaller rocks in the spaces between the concrete. Put sand over the concrete and rocks. This will "lock in" the rocks and concrete. The idea of this is to make an "apron" or area around the fire pit that is not flammable. But it will also look nice. The more rustic the better.


Add some tree stumps to sit on or a hay bale with a flannel blanket. Open a glass of good red wine and enjoy the fire. This is a sure fire way to stay warm on a late fall night.