# Firepit Fun



## TheLawnChef (Feb 3, 2021)

Probably the best thing I did to my was building a simple firepit. Tonight's dinner was a Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir Fry. And yes I did a second round of spot spraying yesterday 😁

Enjoy
Jonathan


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Nice! I love a nice fire!


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## PNW_George (May 28, 2018)

I love a fire as well, took us until last year to finally get a firepit for no known reason. We have had an especially nice April in the Seattle Tacoma area. Two of my kids came over on the 22nd for dinner and we sipped wine outside late into the night.


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## AndyS (Jun 13, 2020)

I built a fireplace a few years ago. It was definitely one of the tougher projects I've undertaken, but it was worth it. There's nothing like relaxing outside by a fire.

The benefit of a fire pit vs. a fireplace is you can get more people around it for s'mores action.


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## mrigney (Jun 6, 2017)

@AndyS That is awesome! Not to hijack the thread here, but can I ask (ballapark) budget for materials for your fireplace build (and how long did it take you to do)? And what sort of pavers do you have on your patio? We're finishing up construction on a new house right now. One of the last things to go in is a a 20x15(ish) patio (separate from a 30x8 covered porch on a different side of the house). We've been trying to decide 1) what to do for the patio itself (just pour a slab? Pavers?) and 2) whether to do a firepit built into the patio. But then I saw your project here, and I have to say....I might just tell the builder to lay off a firepit and try to tackle something like you've done over the next couple years.


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## AndyS (Jun 13, 2020)

No problem @mrigney

The pavers were Unilock I beleive. There's a lot of frost heave in this area, so we actually had a landscaper pour a slab, and then pave on top of the slab. Belts and braces, but there's been zero movement in the pavers in 5 years. At the same time they poured the concrete footings for the fireplace, which I believe was almost a full truck load on its own.

When I started the patio I submitted my own plans using... Microsoft PowertPoint. No kidding! The City was great at dealing with me.

Build took about 5 months I believe, but it was just me working. There was a further delay of a couple of months for the limestone caps because they had to be made out of state. It was all custom work with the exception of the fireplace interior, which was a kit from a company called FireRock. Those kits are incredibly helpful, because it ensure that items like drafting are simply going to work, and that you'll end up with a functional fire.

Budget was about $9K, compared to quotes we got for building a simple prefab kit with no cabinet, no wall, no place for the Egg, no integrated lighting, and no flamed limestone. Those quotes were in the $20K - $25K range.

I might do a separate thread if there's interest.


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## bosox_5 (Jun 20, 2018)

AndyS said:


> I might do a separate thread if there's interest.


Yes, do this


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## mrigney (Jun 6, 2017)

Agreed. I'd love a thread about the build.


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## FATC1TY (Jul 12, 2017)

I'd love to see the build!

I have a stone Firepit kit in my yard but it's nothing special.

When we move, planning for a large outdoor kitchen, and something similar in the plans, if anything with a pizza oven where you have an egg, since our eggs would be in the kitchen.


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## Mr Lawn (Mar 24, 2021)

That definitely came out looking beautiful! :thumbup:

Y'all should be proud of yourself's!



AndyS said:


> I built a fireplace a few years ago. It was definitely one of the tougher projects I've undertaken, but it was worth it. There's nothing like relaxing outside by a fire.
> 
> The benefit of a fire pit vs. a fireplace is you can get more people around it for s'mores action.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

TheLawnChef said:


>


@TheLawnChef , what is ^this^ / that last photo of?


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## TheLawnChef (Feb 3, 2021)

Ware said:


> Nice! I love a nice fire!


Thanks! It's so nice to kick back & relax at the end of the day. It's been windy this spring, I have had to shield the fires with some old larger logs.


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## TheLawnChef (Feb 3, 2021)

PNW_George said:


> I love a fire as well, took us until last year to finally get a firepit for no known reason. We have had an especially nice April in the Seattle Tacoma area. Two of my kids came over on the 22nd for dinner and we sipped wine outside late into the night.


That's gorgeous


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## TheLawnChef (Feb 3, 2021)

AndyS said:


> I built a fireplace a few years ago. It was definitely one of the tougher projects I've undertaken, but it was worth it. There's nothing like relaxing outside by a fire.
> 
> The benefit of a fire pit vs. a fireplace is you can get more people around it for s'mores action.


Amazing! The Egg is a nice add to. Do you have an engineering backgroud that you used powerpoint for the planning?  A friend/coworker with engineering background used excel for his kitchen & deck projects.


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## AndyS (Jun 13, 2020)

TheLawnChef said:


> AndyS said:
> 
> 
> > I built a fireplace a few years ago. It was definitely one of the tougher projects I've undertaken, but it was worth it. There's nothing like relaxing outside by a fire.
> ...


Thanks much! Actually I struggle with the engineering side. I'm an awful combination of OCD but bad at math. I actually find the creative side easier, but I used PowerPoint to simplify the process for me (e.g., a 1 foot length = 0.1 inches in PowerPoint) so I could keep my relative dimensions accurate.

The BigGreenEgg piece was something I definitely wanted to incorporate, so then it became a matter of how I balanced out the other side of the fireplace. Between a place to store wood and a stainless steel cabinet the cabinet won.

I also found out that I was the world's worst cement guy for the first 12 hours. I couldn't mix anything that wasn't either too hard and dry, or so runny that the weight of placing one concrete block on another cause all of my mortar to squish out...

But then you get better, simply because repetition makes everything better. It was a fun thing to learn. Plenty of mistakes along the way, but they're all fixable.


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## TheLawnChef (Feb 3, 2021)

It's all about the Learning Curve! haha


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