Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, following all your guidelines, about building a fire pit with fire bricks:
So, I’ve always wanted a proper fire pit in my backyard. Not one of those flimsy metal things, but a real, solid, gonna-last-forever kind of fire pit. I did some lookin’ around, and it seemed like fire bricks were the way to go. They can handle the heat, no problem.
First thing I did was mark out the area. I wanted a circular pit, so I just used a stake and some string to draw a circle on the ground. It ended up being about four feet across, seemed like a good size.
Next, I dug out the circle. I went down maybe six inches or so, just to get rid of the grass and get down to some solid dirt. I made sure the bottom was pretty level, used a level to double-check, my eye sight is not always that good.
Laying the First Course
This was the tricky part. I started laying the fire bricks around the edge of the circle, standing them up on their ends. I didn’t use any mortar or anything, just dry-stacked them. The idea is that the curve of the circle kind of holds them all in place.
It took a little fiddling to get them all to fit snugly. I had to try a few different arrangements, shift some bricks around, you know, make it work. But eventually, I got a nice, solid ring for the first layer.
Building it Up
After the first course was down, the rest was pretty easy. I just kept adding layers of fire bricks, staggering the joints like you would with regular bricks. That makes it stronger.
I built it up about four courses high, which seemed like a good height. Enough to contain the fire, but not so high that it’s hard to reach over.
The Finished Product!
- I did add a circle that smaller than the fire brick circle.
- Then, I filled that smaller circle with some gravel for the bottom. Just to help with drainage and keep the fire from sitting directly on the dirt.
And that’s it! Took me a weekend, working on and off, but I got it done. It looks great, and it works even better. We’ve already had a couple of fires in it, roasted some marshmallows, good time! I’m pretty proud of myself for figuring it out. It’s not perfect, but it’s mine, and it’ll probably last longer than I will!
