The $5 Repurposed Fire Pit
Reusing and repurposing when doing home improvements is a really frugal way to save cash. It’s also a great way to conserve resources and save goodies from the landfill. If you are wanting to have a fire ring in your back yard. You might just have everything that you need in your yard already. It doesn’t hurt to repurpose things to get a new project completed.
For a basic repurposed fire pit you need to start of with a few steps first.
- Make sure to clear area of all items that could easily catch fire (ie. dry leaves, twigs, grass clippings)
- Clear the area of the ring down to the dirt. If there are any roots near the surface, make sure to dig them up as they can be a fire hazard.
- Now’s the fun part! Search your yard for great items that you can use to line your fire pit! Look for medium sized rocks, old bricks, metal fencing.
- Get creative! This part just needs to be non-flammable and something that hopefully will be aestetically pleasing. In our fire pit, we used rocks that were in a “rock” garden from the previous owner. We had planned on redoing that section of the yard anyway, so it worked out perfectly.
- If you can’t seem to find anything in your own yard that would work, don’t be afraid to search local areas where you are allowed to remove items such as rocks. You can also turn to your local Freecycle groups as well. There are many ways that you can get materials to repurpose for your fire pit.
- After you have found your material, form a ring with the rocks to separate the area you will be using for your fire form the rest of your yard. Ours is about 4 feet in diameter, using the inner 2 feet for fire wood.
- The next step is where you may need to spend some cash. You will want to lay a barrier between the dirt and where you want to build your fire pit on. We used paver base. This is a sandy, rocky mix you can find at most home improvement stores for about$2 a bag. Get enough paver base that you have a good 2-3 inch sandy base over the dirt in your fire pit. This should be enough to make sure nothing under the pit will be a fire hazard.
Now you should be ready to use your repurposed fire pit! This is a great way to spend time with your family and friends outdoors and make an outdoor space just a little more personal.
Remember no tutorial on fire pits is a replacement for reviewing your local fire codes. This tutorial does not mean to be the only means to educate you on open fires at your home. Make sure to follow safe fire procedures, and consult your local fire department for more information.
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