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We are regrading our back yard and will have to rebuild our bonfire pit which is currently a circle of large stones around a slight indentation.
Does anyone have suggestions based on expereince for an ideal bonfire pit. Is it better to dig out a little bit, or have it at ground level or raised?
We have a problem with the stones cracking and have to replace them regularly. Sometimes they kind of explode. Suggestions for a different material? Some people use truck wheels, but they are really too small, We usually have a big fire with a lot of people around it. The current pit is probably 60" across. I thought about trying to get some tiles from an old silo, but I am not sure how heat resistant those are.
Suggestions as to the ideal height for the sides? Currently we are at about 18" but it seems like a bit higher may be nice to rest roasting sticks and feet on. Maybe that will block too much of the heat.
Bonfires are a big part of our summer social life. I want to make something really nice. If you have seen something that you thought was just really neat or convenient, please describe it.
You want to get fire brick. It withstands the heat. Reminds me of a story my husband told me years ago. He knew a guy that built a brick fireplace in his house and didn't use fire brick. One fire later he had a huge fire. The house burned down. You can pick up fire rings I believe this helps with the heat.
I subscribe to House Beautiful and they have a great fire pit in there. I looked at the website and its not on there. From the photo it looks on the tall side where you could rest roasting sticks. We are going to build a fire pit this summer. I want to dig it out a little.
We used to build fire walls instead of a pit. This would reflect the heat outwards and worked better for both small fires and large. Biggest issue you lose half the fire to some extent but you're getting a lot more heat reflected outwards so you can still get heat farther away. The wall would typically be about 8 feet wide and 3 feet high. It was only one wall, the wood be stacked up against it. We'd put pipes in the ground about 2 feet out from the wall. The pipes were there so you could build the fire up, throwing a bunch of 6 foot logs on it was no problem. It also prevented the logs from rolling out of the fire.
On the backside you lose that area as nice vantage point but since the wall directed the heat so well it was nice safe place for the kids to toast marshmallows and add wood to the fire.
Last edited by thecoalman; 04-19-2012 at 12:44 AM..
I believe we made one with fire brick the one year and it didn't help much. I'm sure the biggest issue is the moisture and since it's outside anything porous is going to sponge it up. If I was going to build and outside pit made to withstand the heat if you got some metal plate even if it was only small to protect the area getting the most heat it would last a very long time.
Always be sure the hearth (or seat) is low enough, and the fire pit floor is high enough so the heat is reflected towards the user’s and not the walls of the fire pit. !8-20" for the hearth- pit floor 4-8" deep. Create a significant overhang of the hearth to the INSIDE of the pit- this will help keep water from seeping directly into the fire brick.
2) Always create at least two or three expansion joints in a fire pit that has a diameter over four or five feet.
3) Always line your fire pit with fire brick. The rest of the structural wall can be built with CMU's. The exterior facade should have at least two expansion joists.
4) Try to obtain and use refractory mortar or mortar that is considered “fire resistant” for the lining fire brick.
5) Design the fire pit to allow for proper air flow. With a diameter of 5', you'd probably need about 3 vents. the openings should be at the base of the wall and come up to the floor of the fire pit. The floor should be concaved- so vents can act as drains for water.
8-20" sides and dig the pit out but no more than 8" is that correct?
Wh line the pit with brick? Dirt seems to work well. THat is a big cost for something you never see and for which I do not see any advantage. What does it do?
CMUs better than stone? Stone is free, but it keeps breaking or exploding. Any particular type of CMU? They will not explode when they get real hot?
Vents? Made of pipe? Are they necessary? We have not had any problem getting a bonfire going. We usually stack brush then logs maybe 3' - 4' high, douse it with charocal starter and light it.
I like the idea of putting in drains that can also bring air to the bottom/inside of the fire. We somtimes get water inthe pit and usually just pile up cardborad and brush until it is high enough to burn. The water eventually evaporates, but it makes a lot of steam and is a PIA to deal with.
We have a lot of fires during the summer. The fires are usually pretty large. The ash builds up quickly and makes a mound. We should probably remove it more often. Right now it is higher than the rocks. Ask mixed with dirt seems to work well for building up trains in swampy areas.
I am going to hijack the thred...or at least turn it in a different direction.
I grew up in the country.....real country...small town...couple hundred people. On special occasions...Fourth of July...we sometimes had a fire outside...toasted a few marshmellows, etc.
Now, the population of the country has more than tripled, and people live closer together than ever. Our air is arguably at the poorest levels ever. And we seem to have an explosion in the number of back yards with fire pits of some sort.
I just don't get it. You can't have a wood stove with something more than zero emissions. Supposedly the population is more aware than ever about the fragile state of our environment. And yet, on any given spring, summer or autumn evening, the air in many suburban neighborhoods is filled with disgusting stench from people buring crap in their back yard fire pits.
Whats up with this? Why the disconnect? Why the 'i don't give a crap about the environement?" Why the lack of even modest concern for the neighbors who have to smell the stench? Where did the breakdown occur between caring people, and the splurge in fire pits which seem to be the recent fad for 'must have' homeowners?
In our community it is nothing new. Most homes have fireplaces or woodstoves. Most homes have firepits. It goes back to the 1700s. There have always been firepits. Wood fires burn pretty cleanly. There is enough deadfall that no one bothers burning green wood. People have always used them. It is not some new trend. At least not here. The odor is very mild and barely detectable, but it is always there in the background. Most people find the smell pleasant. Our community is often decribed as living at a campground or at summer camp.
It is hard to get people real worked up about a few firepits or fireplaces burning wood when there is a coal fired power plant and several factories right accross the river from us. Still our air is very clean cmpared to the LA basin or most major cities. We do not have a lot of pollution obsessed greenies. People care about the environment, but they do not get so obsessive as to believe that a few back yard wood fires are going to have any signicant impact. We have a lot of engineers in our community. People who understand what the signficant causes of pollution are and what issues are really just talking points. A single forest fire started by the forest service the engender natural growth cycles creates far more polution form burning wood than all of the back yard fires in our community will make in twenty years.
The smoke from our firepit blows off to Canada. They have never complained that we know of.
One thing that is really neat, when we have a large daytime fire, hawks and bald eagles like to come over and ride the thremals.
Where my Dad lives, people still burn their trash in barrels in the back yard. Lots of plastics and the like. Everything that can be consumed by fire goes into the burn barrel. Nasty plumes of black or multicolored smoke. What does not burn has to be hauled off to the dump once a month. I am surprised they have not put a stop to that practice. It is a highly populated area now.
I grew up in the country.....real country...small town...couple hundred people. On special occasions...Fourth of July...we sometimes had a fire outside...toasted a few marshmellows, etc.
People want to do the same thing you did when you were younger
Now there more people which means more marshmallow roasting!
People want to do the same thing you did when you were younger
Now there more people which means more marshmallow roasting!
When will they finally invent sugarless diet marshmallows?
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From the photo it looks on the tall side where you could rest roasting sticks. We are going to build a fire pit this summer. I want to dig it out a little.
