Enhance Your Outdoor Space with a Custom Fire Pit: Here's What You Need to Know

With people staying home more often these days, a fire pit is a great feature to incorporate into your landscaping.  It’s something to do that’s super enjoyable while staying at home.  You could have a romantic evening for 2 sitting at a small backyard fire with a glass of wine.  You could also have a large family gathering and have a party with a fire in the fire pit being a major draw.  Just break out the Ribeye’s on the grill, and S’mores, and you’ll have instant fun!  

Choosing the Perfect Location for Your Custom Fire Pit

First, let’s think about where to put the fire pit, and then we’ll get into talking about types of fire pits to consider. A fire pit can be incorporated into a patio area or even out in the back lawn area.  Keep in mind that in most places, it’s required that the fire pit be located at least 25’ from a structure.  In the town where I live, it’s required that it be located 50’ from my house, even though the standard in New Hampshire is generally 25’ away.  Be sure to know the rules where you live.  If there is no way to place a firepit far enough away from a structure for permitting purposes, you may want to think about something like a ‘solo stove’ or a small movable fire pit type table.  But, for the sake of this discussion, let’s say we’ve figured out what distance is required for your circumstances.  Let’s now consider what the space could look like.  Would you want a hard surface in this area?  Doing a surface such as patio pavers or natural stone, like bluestone, will make the area easier to put furniture on.  If you have a fire pit in a lawn area, the legs of the chairs will tend to sink in.  Sometimes, I’ll see people do a fire pit in a gravel type area or in a sand type area.  These areas, again, aren’t ideal for furniture but are much less expensive than pavers or bluestone.  Also think about the look of the area.  A lawn or gravel area is very informal and a patio of either pavers or natural stone will be more ‘organized’ looking and potentially more inviting and visually pleasing.

There are options for styles  

The first option to discuss is a ring of either boulders or fieldstone.  This is a simple, rustic way to do a fire pit.  This style lends itself to many kinds of situations.  Look at the photo.  This photo shows a bluestone patio, in a terraced area, that has a rock ring firepit.  It is all done in natural stone and has a classic look.  This type of firepit is a low-cost custom fire pit too which is a great consideration!  

Next type of firepit is a kit.  There are kits available that arrange blocks in a circle with a metal insert.  Perhaps a square more modern shape is your thing.  There are lots of types of blocks and styles that are made for fire pits.  They can be very nice.  I can show you product manufacturer catalogs so we can explore styles and color options. 

Where will you store your firewood?

This is no small question!  And this is often an overlooked question.  If choosing a block style firepit, there are ways to make fire pit storage areas made from the same type of block.  This idea will lend itself to adding to the cohesion of your landscape design.  Maybe you need a small woodshed?  If you opt for just making a pile of wood on the ground, the wood will soak up moisture from the ground, so I suggest we figure out a way to avoid that. As your landscape designer, I can help you navigate the many fire pit choices and ideas.  

And let’s not forget about gas firepits.  These are so convenient!  These are also far less messy than wood.  Even though wood has a certain ‘feel’ to it, gas is oftentimes the preferred firepit for many homeowners.  If you go for gas, we will need to figure out where the gas comes from.  A gas technician will be required at time of hookup.  So easy, so clean, so convenient.  Gas may be your answer too.  Again, I can show you catalog photos, and we can make decisions in your landscape design process.  

There’s plenty of options.  Go for it.  Fire pits are affordable and give you tons of enjoyment!

No wonder they’re popular!

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention other things you can do in a fire pit area.  How about a fireplace instead of a firepit?  There are some beautiful options for these!  They come complete with chimneys, hearths, and the works!  On each side of a fireplace, you could put wood storage boxes and even water features.  Now, shine some night lighting behind the water feature and you’ve got a stunning night time landscape!  Or… how about a pizza oven?  These are so much fun!  

Furniture!  Don’t forget the furniture!  There’s always the classic Adirondack chairs or picnic tables.  Have you thought about stone furniture?  If you have a granite picnic table and granite benches, then you’ll never have to refurbish or stain furniture again!  Food for thought.  

Just a couple more thoughts; let’s not forget about the prevailing wind direction because you’ll want to stay upwind from the smoke.  Let’s also make sure that the firepit is placed so that when you sit near it, you’re facing the most desired views.  

Maybe you’d like to incorporate some fragrant flowering shrubs nearby?  Or maybe you’d like to consider having a babbling water feature so that you’ll have the sound of water?  

If the firepit area has a slope (or even if done on a flat area), a cool idea is to incorporate a “sitting wall”.  This is a retaining or freestanding wall that has the cap at a comfortable sitting height.  This can add a beautiful element to the area while greatly increasing the capacity for the number of people who can sit in the area.

Ask me, your Landscape Designer, about what may work best for your property.

As your Landscape Designer I will consider things such as the style you’re going with and your needs.  I will consider the distance from any structures, the surrounding grades and so much more.

As a Landscape Designer, I can tell you that a fire pit is one of the most requested features that a homeowner will want.