The Making of a Fire Pit

Sitting around a fire pit is one of those simple pleasures in life.  You can have a drink, roast marshmallows, chat, or just sit and be mesmerized by the flames.   

We were invited to a friend’s house two years ago to enjoy their fire pit on a beautiful May evening.  We enjoyed it so much and started asking questions about how the owner built it.  He said it was not a big project at all: a little digging, a bunch of rocks, a few bags of cement, and maybe a week of work.  As summer wore on, our younger son Kevin, who was working part-time while home from college, started getting bored.  So I thought that having him build us a fire pit would serve two purposes:  give him a project to keep him busy while giving our family the pit to enjoy. 

The project started off splendidly.  Kevin began digging the hole, which my husband Chris designed to be 7 feet in diameter to accommodate a one foot wide wall inside it.  The depth of the hole was to be 2½ feet.  This took several days of backbreaking digging as that is a big hole.  Then came the acquisition of rocks.  Since we didn’t have any lying around our acre, Kevin and Chris had to go to the woods and haul some out.   After several van loads, Chris deemed we had enough. 

The next step was buying the cement.  Our friend told us a few bags, but we started off buying a dozen 80 pound bags.  The trip to Home Depot included three hauls: first onto their cart, second into the van, and third onto the grass near the hole in the yard.  Kevin mixed the cement while Chris began building the circular wall one foot wide all around.  Not long after, Kevin threw out his back, which was NOT part of the plan.  I guess Berklee College of Music was not preparing him for digging holes, hauling rocks, or mixing cement…

While worrying about Kevin’s back and chauffeuring him to chiropractor appointments, I also tried to keep the project moving along.  I didn’t want the summer to end with a huge safety hazard in our yard.  I hired two teenage boys to help out for $10 per hour.  The first thing they had to do was get more rocks.  I drove the van and they hauled rocks for about two hours.  One didn’t come back the next day because his back was hurting.  So I called another boy and eventually there were enough rocks but now we needed more cement. 

A second trip to Home Depot resulted in a second dozen bags of cement. What Chris thought was enough was only the tip of the iceberg. We got smart this time and I went alone to buy them so their employees had to do the hauling.  Chris continued building on the weekend with the boys, but wait…we ran out of cement again!

After the final dozen bags and another week of work, the circular wall was completed.  Next we had to buy some stone to put around the top.  I went to O & G in Danbury and found some nice ones that would work well. A little more cement to secure them and we were almost done.  A final trip to Home Depot resulted in the purchase of way too many bags of gravel to put in the pit to act as a draining system.  How much you ask?  Well, enough to cover up 1½ feet of the depth.  I had a hard time putting my head around the fact that we (aka Kevin) dug 2½ feet down only to cover 1½ feet back up with gravel.  I mean I understand why, but still…

Chris planted some grass seed around the finished pit to restore what was once lawn.  A few weeks later when the grass was up, we christened the pit with our first fire.  It was more amazing than we thought because it was so dang huge!  With its 3-dozen 80 pound bags of cement and lord knows how many rocks, I aptly call it The Fortress.  If we ever have a nuclear attack, I will protect myself by lying inside and throwing a cover over the top.

In the end, we have an amazing place to gather with family and friends.   We spent way too much money on it and put in way too much time, but it is truly a one-of-a kind masterpiece.  If you are ever in the neighborhood and see smoke out back, stop over and have a drink with us at The Fortress.