We have a 4' Interior Diameter firepit to build. I'd like the ability to burn either wood or gas. We have the gas line run to the pit. I've been searching on the Internet and I can't find plans or a kit that I like.
My vision is a stacked stone firepit about 18" high with a seat wall type cap. We will probably use something like the Belgard Celtik stones.
Here are a couple photos I pulled off the net:
#1 - I like the look of this one, but not flush with the ground
#2 - The BBQ insert on this one looks interesting. I wonder if the whole metal insert can be easily removed and replaced
#3 - It looks like you can almost pull out the gas burner. But I don't know how you would seal it and protect the gas line
I know this is an old thread but I thought I'd let everyone know what we did when we built since I had to do A LOT of research.
1) Had the propane line run from our pool heater to the fire pit area
*While expensive we went this route since it's at a vacation rental and we are much more comfortable with propane light than allowing guests to use wood near the house and pergola area. We saved money by digging the trench for the line ourselves and only having our guy come out to actually run the line.
2) Decided on size and purchased a propane burner (flower shape for most natural burn pattern) and burner pan (flat metal disc for it to rest on)
*I found that the round burners produce an obvious circle shape fire ring when on low, the flower shape burns up into a peak like a real campfire even when on low.
*I also noticed that some people skip the metal base pan for the burner ring (like your first photo) but from what I could find it helps to make sure that the water drains off, decreases the amount of top rock/glass you need to place in the fire pit (therefore decreasing cost), and also helps to make sure that no gas/propane is filling the pocket under the burner ring-which is VERY dangerous.
3)Purchased fire rock to tamp down over sand at the base of the firepit & fire retardant fabric to lay under the sand and stone. Also purchased the retaining wall stones to build the firepit ourselves
*I made sure that we allowed pocket holes for air flow directly across from each other on the bottom layer to make sure that any propane that was getting stuck in the base could flow out with air flow. This also helps dry up any collected rain water and make sure you can access the propane line if needed.
4)Had a key turn light installed vs the electronic light. This was a cost concern since the project was already over budget. We would like to upgrade to an electronic light in the future since it can still be dangerous if someone turns the key up too high and then uses the lighter after a minute.
*We had the key installed prior to building up the retaining wall blocks so we cut the stones to make sure the key turn was recessed into the side of the pit.
*We had to work around sprinkler lines with the propane line once we dug. We just made sure to keep them away from each other once it was installed but the propane line is a flexible tubing so it wasn't hard to adjust.
5) Built the retaining wall firepit around the burner ring & placed the pan on the 2nd to last level under the ring.
*You can get a burner pan of any size depending on how large you want the diameter of your firepit to be but we only went slightly bigger since the cost goes up the larger the pan.
6) Filled it with fire glass purchased from costco.com. We got 4 bags of regular blue stone fireglass and 2 bags of the reflective fire glass.
*The reflective fire glass was so small that it actually ended up mostly on the bottom and I now wish that we had just purchased more of the regular fire glass rocks. Costco was one of the cheapest places I could find after scouring the web for days.
*I was able to find a site that has a calculator to figure out how much fire glass you will need depending on the circumference of your fire pit, let me know if anyone wants the link and I'll search for it again.
We did have an issue with whistling when turning it on the first few times and it worried us, but after talking with our propane guy we learned that it happens when the propane is turned up much too high and the line is rattling against the burner pan. We have had it installed and in use for about a year now with no issues and love the amenity it adds to the rental and using it ourselves whenever possible.
Finished Product:
marking out the spot for it and measuring to be sure it was within city code from the structure:
What the burner and pan look like:
This is what the flower burn pattern looks like before fire glass is installed:
This shows the propane line run with the turn key light.
This shows where we decided to place the pan (directly under the top layer) to save on fire glass costs. The stone laying on the top is the edger stone we are going to purchase to make the lip.
and no job would be complete without our lil helper
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