Okay, so I wanted a fire pit in my backyard. You know, for roasting marshmallows and just chilling on cool nights. I looked at some pre-made ones, but they were either too expensive or just… not what I wanted. So, I thought, “I can totally build this myself!” The big question was: how many bricks do I even need?
First, I sketched out a super rough design. Just a simple circle, nothing fancy. I wanted it to be about 3 feet across on the inside. Then I grabbed a tape measure and some string and headed outside.
I staked the string in the center of where I wanted the pit and used it to mark out a circle. I made sure the inner diameter was about 3 feet like I planned. Then, I measured out a bit further for the brick width, to get the outer circle.
Now for the slightly tricky part. I needed to figure out the circumference. Remember that formula from school? Circumference = π (pi) diameter. Pi is about 3.14, so I multiplied 3.14 by 3 feet (the inner diameter), and got roughly 9.42 feet. That’s the inner circumference.
I picked up some regular old landscaping bricks from the home improvement store. Each one was about 8 inches long on the curved side. I converted feet to inches (9.42 feet 12 inches/foot = 113 inches). Then, I divided the inner circumference (113 inches) by the brick length (8 inches) and got around 14 bricks for the inner ring.
I knew I wanted the fire pit to be about three rows high, for safety and to, you know, actually contain the fire. So, I simply multiplied the number of bricks per row (14) by 3, and figured I needed around 42 bricks total for the inner part.
I wanted a double layer of bricks for extra thickness and a nice, sturdy look. Therefore, I just double the number of bricks, I figured I need 84 bricks in total.
Here is my calculation of the bricks:
- Inner diameter: 3 feet
- Outer diamter: ~4 feet(Consider the width of the brick)
- Height: 3 layer of bricks
- Inner Circumference = π diameter = 3.14 3 = 9.42 feet.
- 9. 42 feet 12 inches/foot = 113 inches
- 113 inches / 8 inches = 14 bricks per row
- 14 bricks 3 = 42 bricks total for the inner part
- 42 bricks 2 = 84 bricks total
In the end, I bought a few extra bricks, just in case some broke or my math was a little off (it happens!). It’s always better to have a few leftover than to have to run back to the store mid-project. It is fun to build it!