What do you suggest to build a fire pit?

Regular bricks an mortar will most likely crack with the heat. You can buy fireplace bricks and mortar that will do the job.

Hi Del.

Three years ago I planted a rhododendron in my front garden, this year the council told me to remove it as it was'nt an indigenous species. When I pointed out that neither were the tulips in next doors garden he told me not to be stupid. I then wrote a long list of common garden plants that were not indigenous to this country and sent it off to the council. The following week they dug up my rhododendron and charged me £430 for doing so!

As you have pointed out, who is it who make up these stupid rules?

Spencer.

Del: I like your last idea but it was the towns fire marshall that explained it to us. He was very impressed with pit and cover as it was, but it needed to be raised above ground to avoid someone tripping and falling into the pit. He even liked the idea that we ran a water line to the area in case it was needed quickly. He said the only time you can have a ground fire is if the area is filled in and the pit is broken down daily. He even suggested that once it was made we buy a cheap grate and call it a bar-b-que to keep compliant with ordinance.

They are old red bricks used as a sidewalk at least 75 years old. Most of the do-it-yourself sites say bricks are usable but not what types. They usually want you to buy thiers and they are mostly the kind you build walls with that lock in place.

I'd kinda like to keep it rustic since the house is a 130 year old victorian with a wrap around porch. Any walls I made were out of natural stone, be that either flat field stones or big round ones. No cement even with a six foot retaining wall. Just REAL BIG and HEAVY ones at the bottom and backlaid with stone and earth.

One of the big problems these days is people confuse 'recomendations' and 'guidelines' with 'law'.

The council was going to put 'traffic calming measures' in the streets near us...these included big speed 'tables' (like a wide sleeping policeman) 10 yards from the end of a dead end street. I pointed out that this was a stupid waste of money as you couldn't possibly speed there as you'd either run out of road or you wouldn't have had room to speed up yet... the reply was
'The guidelines say the humps have to be every 30 yards (or whatever) and if they don't follow the guidelines they won't get the funding to do the work'
I gave up trying to explain/argue in the end..my blood pressure just wouldn't stand the strain... (Whose money do these muppets thing they are spending anyhow? And what morons get paid out of our taxes to write the 'guidelines' ...whatever happened to common sense.

(At least your fire guy sounded like he was trying to be helpfull)

Del

You have to be kidding.

This seems to be a case of legislation aimed at protecting the lowest common denominator. So often it seems that rules, regulations and laws are written to cater to the lowest common denominator. The government in it's many forms is constantly trying to find ways to take care of us from the cradle to the grave. I find regulations like this to be very condescending.

Someone might fall in the fire pit. So. If they do then next time they will be more careful - especially if there is a fire going in it.

It reminds me of 15 years ago or so when our son was 2. My wife was ironing and her brother the Father was visiting. She finished ironing something (a pair of under pants I think), turned to fold and stack it and get another garment. In that span of time our son stuck his finger on the iron.

You can figure what happened next - yelling, "ouch!", holding his finger and the requisite tears. She kissed his finger, ran it under cold water and told him to don't do that again and to go play.

Her brother the Father was agast that she delt with the episode so casually. She simply said that he won't do that again and went about her ironing.

I'd not only keep the fire pit, I'd make it larger and take his suggestion of placing a grate over the opening for when you are not using it and say it's a BBQ.

We have an in ground fire pit in our front yard. Nobody has ever stepped in it or tripped. Out here in Washington State it is not uncommon to see someone using an old washing machine tub both in ground and above ground for burning.

Travis

I say have a real big fire in it so that the ashes fill the pit to ground level, put your grate on it, put up a condiment stand and leave it like that.

A small fridge nearby with your favorite beveage and food may also help

Okay if it can't be in the ground pile the dirt up so its above the ground.

If you are going to make it out of bricks i would use regular bricks to build leaving space in the design to line the fire box with fire bricks. The fire bricks can just be laid in the pit they do not have to be mortar in place. If done this way they must fit snug no gaps to let heat get to the supporting bricks. If one of the fire bricks does crack it can be easily removed and replaced in the future.

Before you go to all this trouble I would check regulations. Whom ever told you it could not be in the ground may be mistaken. Then again the brick pit may be not allowed also.

Ah but if you have it slightly raised someone might stumble over the raised edge..Maybe you should use special 'cold fire' in case someone gets burned...and be carefull of anything you cook...you could burn your mouth.

Maybe it's better if we all just sit quietly and take our meds?

You could always put a post in each corner with a chain around it...but hey..that could get struck by lightening .

I'd better stop now incase the monitor explodes.

Del

Hey Del they have community organizations over there? Here you can buy a house. When you go to paint it you have to paint it the same color as every one else's. Why because the community organization says so. No house can stand out. Can't plant a tree with out permission. What's worst is no working chap has the time to fill the offices of the organizations so it's usually fill with retired people that have nothing better to do than ride around looking for problem(more like creating them).

Wish they take their meds.

Land of the Free and the Brave?!

Stuff like this is why I don't live there any more..

Even here in Switzerland (which is an orgy of rules and regulations), they don't have 'rules' THAT stupid.

NJ must be special, I heard of friends of friends getting tremendous fines for running a flex on a Sunday..INSIDE OF A CLOSED GARAGE.

Makes me understand all them there fellas with guns n' AK-47s and solar-power and woodstoves holed up there in the hills in Idaho and places...

rfg

Sometimes properties are sold with a 'covenant'. E.G In Harlow it was originally designed (it is a post war 'new town' to house those bombed out of London) with all the front gardens open and this policy has remained to a great extent. As to colour etc you can do what you like...I've always fancied painting a life size trompe l'oeil Lamborghini (or tractor?) on my garage door .

It's a smoke free zone too..but that only applies to domestic heating..so you can't have a coal fire..but you could burn coke of similar smokeless fuel. Barbeques and the occaisional bonfire is fine.

Del

We have a burning ban in our little town in the prairie. One neighbor burns all his sticks and yard cleanings and carries a hotdog in his pocket so if anyone comes by he is grilling out. The older we get - the grumpier we are.

Hi ozzb.

That sounds like our present government!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spencer.

Covenants. You love them but hate them. Keeps the neighborhood looking 'nice'. Some go overboard. I grumble about not being able to keep my boat or travel trailer (caravan for those of you across the pond) in my driveway or yard, but then again, I wouldn't want to see my neighbor's car up on cinder blocks in the front yard with the engine dangling from a stout tree branch. At least we don't have to get approval for landscaping, plantings, paint scheme, etc.

Can you just add walls around the sides of the pit, to effectively raise the lip above ground level? I have a pit like this (at, not below, ground level) and have walls of natural stone around it, with one end open. Looks great.

Hi, I used an old deep hay baler wheel rim and welded rods to it to make a portable fire brazier, then I built a brick pit which I sit the brazier in. I would have 150mm clear all the way around the pit from the brazier and I have had no trouble with the bricks over heating because the brazier keeps the fire away from brickwork.

If you have any cement kilns or demolished industrial chimneys near you they usually have tons of fire bricks that are being disposed of. They make a great fire pit/fire place, plus have the rustic look. The cement company should be able to direct you to the proper mortar to use also.

I would suggest building your fire pit out of your bricks and the making a steel liner for the inside of the pit. Allow a 2" air gap between the bricks and liner to keep the bricks from overheating and cracking. Any cracking you may have would result from freezing in the winter time.

GA LockedUp.

There may be a fire brick type material that one could use instead of metal which will rust quite quickly. Check at the building supply store like Home Depot.

I was in need of a cheap container to put scrap steel in at my fab. shop. I ended up buying an old used dumpster and cut the top 3 foot off and reinforced the bottom to hold the steel scrap. With the piece I cut off the top I threw on the ground and started piling old boards and broken pallets in it. After a few weeks I set it a fire and had made a very nice portable "fire pit" on top of the ground. I have tried a screen but have melted a few different ones so I usually just wait and burn after a large rain when everything is wet and I always keep the water hose near the fire. Sometimes when I am burning really wet stuff I will connect a compressed air tank blower to a hole in the side to get it all going very nice. I use it regularly now but I live in the woods and I don't have neighbors that would complain. I have 1170 ft of road frontage on my place so anyone that would complain probably wouldn't see it anyways. One piece of advice though is to not burn any old tires this way, the fire guys can spot that black cloud of smoke for miles.(unless it is night of course)

pipewelder

The ony comment I have is my neighbor cleaned brush behind his house in the US National Forest pilled it up and burned it unbeknown to hnm the underground was peat and a nice fire took place the local fire department and the US Forest Service came to put it out. Fortunately they let him off with a warning but if it happened again he would go to jail.

I would recommend the idea of brick base with firebrick spaced together not to tight to leave room for expansion. The complaint was falling in just build a border around it of stone or brick.

Good luck, I'll stick with my gas grill on my back porch.

Thanks for all the comments. I've got a few ideas and will probably go with a couple different suggestions and roll them into one. My favorite is to burn the bas**rds use the old bricks and top with a flat stone while lining with firebrick. I plan to recess it slightly and fill with gravel to allow it to drain.

We can no longer burn leaves and yard refuse like when I was a boy. You could always tell when fall was officially here with the smell of burning leaves.

Thanks to all !

On a practical note. If you want the warming effect of that fire pit - say on cool nights, don't bury it so it is flush with the surroundings. I have 2 neighbors who have pits flush with the ground (paver stones). Those fires can make a lot of smoke, but they do not give off good heat to the sides. I was surprised by that. I have a "semi- buried" pit (so does another friend) and these fires get good and warm around the sides.

Some very nice pits I have seen use mid-sized retaining wall stones for the pit walls and are lined with galvanized culvert pipe or large diameter steel sewer pipe (hard to come by). Simpler versions seen at campgrounds simply do not have liners. I don't think you need all that firebrick stuff unless you are creating an oven for cooking or an indoor fireplace.

I like the suggestion about keeping a hot dog in your pocket in case the cops show up.

One thing you might do to get good fire bricks is to look and see if your town had some sort of old boiler or furnace that has been demolished. I found tons of old fire brick while metal detecting around an old saw mill boiler near my house. They were laying right on top of the ground. The older fire brick allot of times will have the manufacturer's name molded into the top of them. These are usually high temp. bricks. The high temp. mortar used to connect them is available in smaller quantities from e-bay. I use this type mortar on the small glass furnaces I build and is rated up to 3000 degrees F. The problem with buying new high temp hard brick is that they are very expensive compared to the softer IFB used for insulation. The ones I use in the high wear places of my furnace are over 90% alumina and are in the 7-8.00 apiece range. The soft brick would work but probably wouldn't last very long. I don't think it will be easy to make a cheap, covered and portable fire pit. When you say portable I see a welded metal frame strong enough to hold at least a couple of hundred pounds of fire brick and with big enough wheels to make it portable.

pipewelder

A lot of places want you to pull a permit because the fire pit is a permanent structure. But if you have a hard time you can always go to the Outdoor Fire Pits

Store and get a portable one and you can do as you see fit. Good luck on your fire pit.