Fire pit in the country: how to make it yourself, 50 photo ideas

Above ground location of the fire pit in the country house

Before setting up a fire pit, you need to carefully consider the area where it will be located. The fireplace should be located away from garden trees, a country house and other outbuildings. The optimal distance to the house and buildings should be at least 3 meters, and at least 4 meters to the crowns of the nearest trees. Also, you should not design a place for a fire in a lowland or on a hill. It's better to choose a middle ground.

After the location for the dacha hearth has been determined, the site should be prepared: remove debris, plant roots, level the surface of the site and mark the location for the hearth itself. As a rule, the hearth is made in a round shape, with a diameter of about a meter. It is necessary to remove a layer of turf from the intended area. This is necessary so that later the entire site can be laid out with paving slabs or stones. In the center of the site, the location of the hearth itself is marked. To decorate the fire pit, you can use an iron rim. In the place where it is planned to install the metal rim, remove a small layer of soil, level the bottom of the resulting depression and install the rim.

If the structure has very thin walls, it will not be able to provide the necessary strength during operation. Therefore, concrete blocks or stones are laid in several rows along the entire area of the outer wall. Paving slabs or granite cobblestones are also suitable for this. For masonry it is better to use a special masonry mortar. For laying natural stone, clay mortar is more suitable.

To prevent the fire pit from turning into a pond after heavy rain, it is necessary to cut out a roof for it. A suitable piece of sheet metal can be used as material.

Stone

A beautiful and stylish hearth can be made from landscape stone. For a structure with a diameter of about 75 cm, you will need approximately 10 stones for each row.

This way you can lay both stone and brick

Work process:

Outline the area for the fire pit. Dig a small flat hole there. The depth should be 3–4 cm greater than the height of the stone.
Lay the first row of stones around the perimeter. Use a level to check that they lie level. If there is a skew in any place, remove the stones and straighten the bottom.
No stone should swing from left to right or forward. If necessary, compact them with a rubber hammer. Also use bedding near the base.
Use a damp cloth to thoroughly clean the surface of the stones and let them dry.
Lay the second row. To do this, apply construction adhesive to the bottom of the stones and press them firmly against the surface of the already installed ones.
Check the second row for loose or weakly glued stones. Add glue if necessary.
Clear the stones in the second row and lay the third in the same way.
Add the soil that remains after digging the hole to the edges of the fire pit for greater density and tamp it down thoroughly.

The construction adhesive should dry for about a day. After this you can start a fire.

In addition to stone, brick can also be laid using the same principle.

Recessed fire pit

You can also create a place for a fire in your dacha using a small dug pit. The depth of the dug pit should be approximately 30-40cm. The bottom of the dug pit is covered with a layer of fine gravel. In order for the hearth to last longer, the inside of the pit must be surrounded with a piece of sheet metal. The ring can also be built using separate blocks. The first layer of blocks is laid on gravel. The correct installation is checked by the building level. All irregularities are eliminated using a rubber hammer. A special glue for laying hearths and fireplaces is applied to the upper surface of the first row, then the second row of blocks can be laid. The finished structure is covered with fine gravel, and the upper part of the hearth is decorated with stone that matches the decor of the landscape design.

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Made from concrete blocks

Concrete blocks are convenient for building a garden fireplace due to their flat shape. They can simply be laid out in a square or rectangle on a concrete or brick base and secured with cement.

You can also make a built-in structure. The process of its construction looks like this:

Place the blocks in the location of the future fireplace. If you want to get a circle shape, some of them need to be trimmed using a stone saw or a chisel with a hammer. Make sure there are no gaps.
Trace the resulting circle or square with a shovel to create a marking. Take the blocks to another location. In the marked area, dig a trench up to 30 cm deep.
Lay the blocks down to see if they all fit. If necessary, widen any bottlenecks in the trench.
Remove the blocks again and fill the bottom of the trench with gravel. Pack it tightly. Use a level to check that the embankment is level.
If there are any uneven spots at the bottom of the blocks, knock them out with a hammer. Place the first row in the trench.
Make sure the blocks are level. Use a rubber hammer and bedding as necessary.
Apply construction adhesive in a zigzag pattern across the surface of the first row. Apply the second row of blocks, centering them along the seam.
Check the strength of the second row. Fill the hole with a layer of gravel about 15 cm. This will strengthen the lower rows of the structure.
Place the remaining rows. Roll up a wide pipe from metal and place it inside the structure - this will protect the concrete from relatively quick destruction by fire. Fill the void between the pipe and the blocks with gravel.

For greater aesthetics, the top row of the structure can be made of flat decorative stone.

Design of the area near the fireplace

In order to decorate the area near the fireplace, you can use pebbles, gravel or tiles for garden paths. If you expand the area near the fireplace, you will get an excellent area for a good rest. An interesting option are flat slabs of irregular geometric shapes, which are laid out in a bizarre pattern. These wide slabs can easily accommodate chairs, benches, or other various garden furniture. An ideal option for arranging a fire pit in a country house would be a circular bench with backs. To give such a platform comfort and coziness, the platform can be decorated with rugs, and decorative pillows and blankets can be placed on the bench.

The same material that was used to decorate the hearth can be used to make a supporting wall; it will also serve as a backrest for the bench. In order to avoid having to go far for firewood, a special firewood shed is installed next to the fireplace, which is decorated in the same style as the hearth.

You can lay out a garden path to the fireplace, along which you can install small street lights. This will make the area cozy in the evening and create a special romantic atmosphere.

Often the area around the fire is made in the shape of the sun, and improvised sun rays are painted on the lining. It would be interesting to look at a summer cottage with a hearth made in the form of a lunar crater or fireplace, next to which you can install a small figurine of a guardian cricket.

Decorating a place near a fire in the country is not so difficult. The main conditions for work are the availability of all the necessary building materials, clear calculations, free time, imagination and a little creativity.

Fireplace in the country: what will we sit on?

You have a place for a fire, but what next? Should I stand and watch it burn? No matter how it is, you did it in order to cook barbecue, fry bread, bake potatoes and just relax in the evening, and doing this while sitting is clearly more convenient than standing. How to arrange a place to sit around a fire and what can be used for this?

To begin with, you can take any chairs that can be used outdoors. This can be either simple camp chairs with which you go into the forest, or wooden or metal garden outdoor furniture - the same chairs or large benches on which it is so comfortable to sit together. Rattan seats are also suitable.

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If you are a fan of the classics, why not build the usual pentagon from logs, as is often done in the forest? But here you can sand the logs and even varnish them and even attach a backrest to make it more comfortable to sit on.

And a stationary option - you can make seats around the fireplace in your summer cottage with your own hands from stone - from brick or any other stones that you have at your disposal. Tip: lay out the benches not in a square, but in a semicircle, as this looks more aesthetically attractive. And to keep the seat soft and not cold, place the sofa cushions on the seat itself and attach it to the back, if you have one there.

Do-it-yourself brick fireplace in your dacha

And finally, two ways to make a fireplace in your summer cottage with your own hands. To begin with, the most popular option for a fire pit is made of bricks. What do we need? bricks and cement.

There are several ways to build a fire pit out of bricks. The first option is the same way as a house is built, that is, stacking bricks one next to the other, shifting each next row by half a brick - just lay out the walls of the fire pit at the required height. Some build directly from the ground, some first dig a hole in the ground, and as a result the fire pit is sunk into the ground. In this case, it can be flush with the ground, here it is better to lay out additional stones or tiles around the area at least a meter in diameter, or with the walls up - in this case the coals will not fall down. But here it is worth providing holes for air intake in the fire.

The second way is to lay the bricks in a circle, installing them vertically or horizontally. If you want to make a low fireplace, one row of bricks laid out in a circle with a vertical installation will be enough. If you want to make a large round hearth, you need to lay the bricks horizontally and do not forget about the holes through which air will enter the fire - in this case it will burn much better.

You can also show your imagination and create some unusual hearth, not round or square, but absolutely not symmetrical in shape. Moreover, here you can use not only bricks, but also any other stones - best natural, unprocessed.

Design and material options

The hearth can be made from any non-combustible materials. It can be:

bricks or building blocks left over from the construction of the house;
"wild" stone;
paving stones;
paving slabs;
poured reinforced concrete;
well ring;
metal barrel or box.

The auxiliary materials you will definitely need are sand, crushed stone and cement. Clay, reinforcement, and formwork boards may come in handy.

But in order to settle on one option, it is important to decide on the purpose of the fireplace. This can be a fire pit for burning garbage, and the rest of the time as a place to relax around the fire. Or you can choose a design that would also serve as a barbecue area. That is, in any case, the hearth should be multifunctional.

Hearth at the dacha under a cauldron

If you like to cook something in a cauldron over a fire, for example, real pilaf, stewed vegetables or meat, then before you start building the fireplace, you need to figure out how to then put the cauldron on it. The first option is to make a small fireplace out of stones, on which a large cauldron can be placed on top. If you need a larger place for the fire, make a metal structure that can be placed in the fire, and place a cauldron on top of it. Or you can make a hearth from an old car rim. How to do this - read below, and the cauldron will stand on top without any problems.

Fire pit: barbecue made from an old car rim

If you don't want to lay bricks, you can use a simple and proven method for making a fire pit yourself, which I mentioned earlier - using an old car wheel (stamped, not cast!). It's perfect for this - round shape, high walls, air intake holes and easy to install. You can either bury it in the ground, making a fire pit flush with the ground, or place it and cover it with bricks on top to give it a more attractive look.

By the way, from the same disk you can make not only a fireplace, but also a barbecue - on steel legs to make it easier to monitor the kebabs being prepared, a grill (by adding a grate of the required size on top), a barbecue and much more.

And if, instead of a car disk, you find some other metal bowl or other container in your garage or basement, you can easily use it to make a fireplace in your summer cottage. By the way, an old steel basin will also work for this - who else still has one of these from Soviet times?

Device and dimensions

The fire pit can be round or rectangular. It can be so deep that it is flush with the ground, or it can be partially buried, with slightly raised walls. There are options that are generally located above ground level - they are placed on a previously prepared site. So the choice is yours.

The fire pit can be completely or partially buried

There is no point in arguing about forms. Round ones are more convenient - we stack the firewood in a hut. But rectangular ones are easier to build, especially brick ones. Here all the techniques are known - the masonry is carried out like an ordinary wall. The wall thickness is just a quarter of a brick.

Those who are deciding how to set up a fire pit in the backyard of a house, in a country house or in a garden plot usually have several questions:

What size should a fire pit be?
Do you need a blower, if so, how many, what sizes, how to make them and where to place them?
Should I install a grate or not?
How to make cleaning the fireplace easier?

In fact, the first two questions are interrelated. If the dimensions of the fire bowl are quite large - a meter or more in diameter, you can make the walls solid, without a blower. If less than a meter, you will have to make holes for air intake.

Outdoor fire pit type

It is better to make a blower not from below, but in the walls. Their number - two or four - is diagonally opposite each other. Small holes are left in the wall by breaking off a piece of brick (about a quarter). If necessary, they can be laid with the same, slightly trimmed, quarters. It is not worth making a vent from below: with such a design, ash flakes often fly around the area during the “operation” of the hearth - they are carried away by the air flow, which with such a design is difficult to regulate.

About the grate bars. It’s possible to do whatever is more convenient for you, but they don’t really affect functionality or convenience.

Fireplace: hearth in the country house photo ideas

So, we figured out how to make a fireplace with our own hands, what materials to use for this, how to arrange the area around it and what seats are suitable for such a relaxation. Let's now look at the photo - how other people did it, in order to borrow from there some of the ideas we liked best, which are worth implementing on your own site.

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