First outdoor project of the year

Not even 30 degree temps and whipping winds could keep us from working on our first outdoor project of the year over the weekend….an outdoor fire pit. All was good and moving right along until the temperature reached  25 degrees the next day, and so we headed inside and decided it could wait to get finished another weekend.  

I should back it up and say, this is not really a new firepit to the backyard, it just got relocated from it’s original spot to make room for our new Koi pond.  You know, ‘That’ project that my hubby started last fall, the one that he said could be done in a couple of weeks, yet still looks very much like this…. In hubby’s defense, each free weekend he can work on it, the weather has created a lot of challenges in getting this finished.

Tired of looking at a big ole mud pit in the backyard, grateful but honestly, enough already, I said let’s do something that we can get done in a weekend…this weekend. We are a family that enjoys a good outdoor fire and for the last several months we have been using other areas on the property for the traditional weekend campfire, so we were ready to create something that looked a bit more permanent…and pretty in the backyard. Something a little less ‘bonfireish’. Where the tractor is kinda gives you an idea of where the fire pit is in the backyard.

Whats so great about this project is, that we totally recycled the stone that we tore up last fall for the patio area. Other then buying some bags of pea gravel to fill in the cracks, this was a relatively inexpensive project. And although we are not entirely finished , I wanted to share the progress with you.

Once we decided on the spot for the fire pit, my husband leveled the area out, so that the stones would not be so wonky when you walked on them.

When we determined the size of the area, which is big enough for 6-8 chairs, we dug out the pit in the center. Next we placed the stones in a circle shape around it, leaving enough room between the stones for the gravel. 

Once all the stones were in place and leveled, we put pea gravel in between all the cracks. The pea gravel really helps to keep the stones from moving around. We used 30 bags of pea gravel for a 15 foot diameter.

To officially cross this project off the list, we still need to do a few more things. We will install a border edge around the perimeter of the fire pit and fill in the remaining gaps with the pea gravel. We need to clean the dirt off the stone and apply a sealer to keep in looking pretty all year round. I will probably use the same sealer that I used on the front porch here. We will secure the stones in the actual pit and lay a stone floor as I don’t want dirt to be visible. I have enough of that around this place…just look at the unfinished Koi pond.

And when all of that is finished, and my husband isn’t working on the other hundred honey-do projects…or sitting by the fire, I would really love to have him make me some Adirondack chairs to place around the fire pit. Ahhh..doesn’t that sound all warm and cozy. For now, I guess I will just sit on these chairs…we know how the timing is around here.

grateful

for a good man