Man Builds An Impressive Fire Pit With Stunning Stone: 'Good Work!'

A fire pit can be a fabulous addition to your yard, providing a cozy place to sit when the cooler nights close in and somewhere to roast those all-important marshmallows. There are lots of ways to create them, from upcycling an old washing machine drum to building one from stone. Over on YouTube, a channel called Rockin Walls takes things up a notch with a stunning version of the latter. "Good work" and "amazing" are just two of the comments, and the reason for their enthusiasm is obvious. I've been a renovator and remodeler for over 25 years, and I'm impressed, too.

Unfortunately, there are no instructions with the video, but we can get a general idea of what's going on. A roughly circular area is excavated first to provide a level base. You can scribe one out with a couple of sticks and some string. Just stick one in the ground where you want the center to be, and scratch into the grass or dirt with the other as you walk round.

He then adds a layer of dry concrete mix. This makes it easier to bed in the stones without having to rush before wet concrete goes hard. Over time, it will absorb water from the atmosphere and set solid.

The main construction uses Pennsylvania (PA) Blue Stone. It is an attractive, hard-wearing, natural material with an unusual color, but it's not cheap. There are a bunch of ideas for a fire pit on a budget, but this isn't likely to be one of them. Two full pallets of stone were required for this build, although you could save a few bucks by making it smaller.

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Some stones will almost certainly need to be cut down. This could be done with an angle grinder (with a stone-cutting disk), a masonry saw, or a cold chisel (the type used for masonry, not wood) and a hammer. We can see that lengths of rebar have been inserted into the ground to keep pieces in place as he works around. It's not clear if they have been removed, but my guess would be that they have been knocked in a little further, then covered with the upper pieces of stone that form the finished domed or donut shape.

Although PA Blue Stone has good heat resistance, it shouldn't be used in direct contact with a fire. Once the stone laying is finished, we can see that some kind of support frame and fire pan have been added to the center. You should be able to find something similar at the hardware or garden store.

The man from Rockin Walls who built this fire pit is a dry stone walling professional, and it took him 78 hours. Without the benefit of his experience, you could easily imagine it taking two or three times as long. However, there's only one aspect where I would advise caution. At some point early in the construction, it looks like a gas line has been added using copper pipe. It would need to be in trunking underground to protect it, and there may be a local building code covering depth. Of course, you could always just leave it out and light the fire with kindling and matches.

That aside, there aren't any special skills involved. Do bear in mind that the whole construction is dry. There's no cement or mortar to hold the stones in place, so you'll need plenty of patience to stack them during the build. Be prepared for some to topple over and need to be put back from time to time. Once it's finished, they should be self-supporting.

You may waste a few pieces of stone cutting them until you get comfortable with whichever tool you're using. Stone is also quite heavy, so you'll need to be physically fit. When all is said and done, though, if this is one of those stunning backyard makeovers that inspire you, the effort to create such a unique fire pit could well be worth it.