A fire pit may seem like an excellent thing to have for autumn when it’s a bit cold outside or even summer when having friends over for drinks. And while it is a great home addition for entertaining guests, having a fire pit installed by expert landscapers or yours truly could damage your lawn.
The reasons not to build fire pit include the following:
- A fire pit may be difficult to build on your own.
- It is expensive to have a firepit installed professionally.
- Fire pits are hard to clean and maintain.
- The fire pit can destroy your grass.
In this article, I’ll tell you why building a fire pit is not such a good idea. You will also learn how to properly place one if you’re going to build it anyway, how to avoid damaging your lawn in the process, and some basic fire safety tips.
Why Building a Fire Pit in Your Yard Is a Bad Idea
You’re thinking to yourself, ‘how is this person about to convince me not to build something that will be the centerpiece of the next neighborhood get-together? The answer is simple.
It’s harder and more expensive to build a good quality fire pit than you think. Fireproofing is difficult, and if it’s one run on gas, you are asking for an explosion in your backyard.
Let’s explore the reasons against building a firepit.
1. A Fire Pit Is Difficult To Build On Your Own
You can go the DIY route and build your own fire pit, but it may reach a point where you ask yourself, ‘Is this all worth all the work I’m putting in? On top of doing the labor yourself, building your own firepit can sometimes cost even more than having one professionally installed because of the price of materials.
To complete this daunting project, you’ll also need special materials like pavers and paving sand. These type of specialty materials can be expensive, especially if you make errors in the build process and have to purchase more building materials.
Furthermore, if you plan to have a natural gas fire pit, you will have to run the gas line yourself. This is dangerous and shouldn’t be done unless you are an expert
2. It is Expensive To Have A Firepit Installed By a Professional
The cost of having a professional come to your home and install your fire pit can be over a thousand dollars. The worst part about having one installed is that you may pay for this expensive project and still end up unsatisfied with the finished product.
If you do have your firepit professionally installed, you may not know how to care for it and perform routine maintenance. This is especially so for a natural gas fire pit which you could damage in the process of attempting to clean it. You would end up setting yourself up to spend more money getting the fire pit repaired
3. Fire Pits Are Hard To Clean and Maintain
Fire pits are difficult to clean no matter what material they are made from. For instance, stone fire pits should only be cleaned with a special solution that will not erode the mortar. Metal fire pits, on the other hand, are extremely susceptible to rust if not dried properly directly after cleaning.
Though it seems like a good idea, fire pits should never be cleaned using a pressure washer. This will damage most fire pits. Not being able to use pressure means you’ll be doing all the cleaning by hand. As a result, performing cleaning and maintenance on a fire pit you built yourself can become exhausting
4. The Fire Pit Will Destroy Your Grass
If you are a person that values the beauty of a lush green yard, then you should not get a fire pit. Building the fire pit in a singular, immovable location will kill all the grass around it through heat compression. This dehydrates and chokes the grass to death.
An immovable fire pit will also create dead spots and detract from the aesthetics of your yard, which is the direct opposite of what you’re trying to do.
How To Properly Place a Fire Pit if You’re Going To Build One Anyway
After reading the info above and still plan to build a fire pit in your yard, you might as well do it in the best way possible. As we have seen, placement of the firepit is key for both safety and aesthetic reasons. Therefore, you need to keep the below in mind:
- Legal considerations. The first thing you should check about your fire pit location is what is legal in your state or municipality and what is allowed by your local HOA. Some places don’t allow home fire pits, especially drought-prone areas prone to wildfire.
- Work on level ground. It would be best if you placed the pit on level ground. Building it on an uneven surface can cause the structure to fall in upon itself, causing a huge safety hazard.
- Keep away from flammable substances. Never build a fire pit less than ten feet ( 3.04m) from anything flammable. This includes your home itself and any overhanging tree branches.
- Avoid grass, wooden decks and enclosed porches..You also want to avoid grassy areas because, as mentioned above, the heat compression will destroy your lush lawn from the ground up. Wooden decks and enclosed porches are also to be avoided because these are highly flammable environments and are in very close proximity to your home.
- Consider nearby utility lines. Check for overhead utility lines like electric and phone lines. Though the heat reaching these lines may seem innocuous, over time, it can cause damage, short circuits, and even power outages and explosions.
Avoiding Damage to Your Lawn Once You’ve Built a Fire Pit
So you went and did it. You found the perfect location and spent the money to have a fire pit installed professionally. Or, you went and spent nearly the same amount on building materials and did all the back-breaking work yourself.
Either way, the fire pit is up and running and fully operational. However, the burning question in your mind is now, ‘how do I keep all my grass from dying around this thing?’ Try the following:
- Before starting up your fire pit, spray the grass around it with water to help with the dehydration of the heat compression caused by the fire itself.
- When building your fire pit, you can install heat shields on the outside of the pavers, creating an incredibly heat-insulating environment inside the pit. A-Team Performance Adhesive Backed Heat Shields from Amazon are cost-effective and rated up to two thousand degrees. So the combination of proper paver stones, paver sand, and a heat shield should add an extra layer of protection to the roots of your grass.
The above solutions will not completely protect the grass from heat compression, especially if you plan to use the fire pit often. If you have an above-ground fire pit, you can use a heat shield underneath it and move the pit around frequently.
Conclusion
A fire pit may seem like an excellent addition to your new home. However, the downsides of installing a fire pit, whether professionally or by yourself, heavily outweigh the benefits of having one.
It can cost well over a thousand dollars to have a firepit professionally built – and even more if you try to build one yourself and mistakes occur during the construction. Besides, the materials are not cheap.
On top of all that, your HOA or local municipality may not even allow fire pits in your locality due to dry conditions. You may want to check with them first.
Sources
- Home Advisor: How Much Does It Cost To Build A Fire Pit?
- JS Brick Corporation: What Are Pavers? All your paver questions answered
- TechniSeal: Why Choose Plyometric Sand For Paver Jointing
- BackyardScape: Can You Put a Fire Pit on Grass? (And the Best Way to Do It)
- Greenokie: Where Not To Put Your Fire Pit
- This Old House: Fire Pit Safety: 4 Tips to Consider
- Backyard Toasty: Fire Pits on Grass: How to Keep Your Lawn From Feeling the Burn
