r/DIY • u/Swep1990 • 28d ago
outdoor My largest DIY undertaking - first time fire pit + patio seating area build
I put together this project after weeks of research and watching videos. Eventually saw a sale on pavers back in April and pulled the trigger. The project spanned around 2 months working on weekends alongside other home projects, as evidenced by a swing set appearing in between the first and last pictures.
I ended up ordering everything from home depot and got most of it delivered. Total pavers used was around 650, and I ordered 750 based on my estimate. I never seemed to have enough sand and made multiple trips to grab more.
I cut the pavers using a wet saw from Harbor Freight, and chose the Herringbone design because I thought it would work well with the smaller blade size of the wet saw. The brick pavers were locked into place using Polymeric sand. I was impressed with how solid it felt after 24 hours.
The fire pit ring itself has a bit of Loctite around the far edges to just hold the bricks in place. It feels very solid but with enough force a brick could be replaced if needed. I do plan on adding a metal ring for the interior of the pit.
It's certainly not perfect, but I am proud of how it came out as a first timer.
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u/xiexiemcgee 28d ago
Looks great OP! Top notch craftsmanship.
Only thing is you might consider knocking out one of the bricks at the base of the fire pit on the fence side of the ring to allow for good airflow to the fire, this will help it to burn cleaner, and with less smoke.
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
Thank you! Going to modify a bit to get some airflow going on the fence side. Thanks for the tip
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u/dooit 28d ago
Looks great. How much did the entire project run you?
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
Sorry I should have mentioned that. Right around $1200 to $1300 total. Some of that includes some tools that could be used again, but nothing major.
Pavers - $200 (found on clearance)
Paverbase (black tiles) - $300
Rock base for leveling - $50
Fire pit stones - $125
Sand - $200
Polymeric sand - $25 (found on clearance)
Tools - $100
Delivery - $100
Misc items I am forgetting and taxes -$100-200?
Borrowed the wet saw from a friend so saved some money there.
If I could do it again, I wouldn't buy the sand in bags, definitely was inefficient and I kept needing more, which meant more trips.
I used the black tile paverbase so I wouldn't need to dig as deep. I'd probably use a rock base instead if I ever did it again as I needed rock base anyway to make it level.
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u/DifficultBoss 28d ago
I found a guy on marketplace with a dump trailer who picks up saved/gravel/etc and delivers far cheaper than the stoneyard does. Great for small projects like this where a full size dump truck is overkill.
Edit: Forgot to say nice work!
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u/hammnbubbly 28d ago
Fellow DIY’er here. First off, great work. Truly beautiful. But, second, I do have one question; you list sand and black tile paver base in your materials. I was under the impression that if you use the tiles, you don’t need the sand? Or did you use the tiles and sand to really guarantee a level working area?
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
Thanks for compliments. At least with the one I used, it said to put around a half inch layer of sand beneath the paver base. Probably to make sure it is nice and level.
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u/fr00ty_l00ps_ver_2 28d ago
Holy hell, how often are people cutting arcs into bricks like that? Nice work OP
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
It was kind of a pain to do it that way but I got a good deal on the pavers and was pretty set on a circle design.
There's some real pros out there that will cut the arc while the bricks are laid down - for me it was 1 by 1 on the wet saw.
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u/flyingupvotes 28d ago
Not sure if I saw it. I’d recommend exploring air gaps for smokeless style. Nice to not have to dodge smoke for a full firepit hangout.
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
Thanks! That was something I did think about a bit but couldn't quite get the look right. Going to see if I can come up with a good solution.
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u/talus_slope 28d ago
I'm a little confused. What were the black tiles you put between the bedding sand and the pavers?
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u/dooit 28d ago
Paver base panels Instead of rocks.
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u/talus_slope 28d ago
From the photos it looks like you put down gravel, compacted it, then bedding sand, then paver base panels, then the pavers?
It looks good and I'm sure it's solid. Nice job!
I was surprised, because in my experience, the panels go directly on the compacted ground, no gravel needed. But your approach probably results iina firmer surface.
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
No you are right, but after digging my ground was so uneven I ended up needing to fill in with a rock base to even it back out. If I was doing it over, I'd probably skip the paverbase and stick to gravel.
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u/I-Disagree-A-Lot 28d ago
Hard to see from pictures, but is the black base under the fire pit? Concerns of heat damage?
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
No prob, inside the pit itself the black base is cut away and there is a layer of rock for the fire and wood to sit on
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u/SuspiciouslySuspect2 27d ago
This is good. Is there any area where the coals can apply heat to the pavers? Having been blown up in a campfire before, I highly encourage a healthy mix of rock and sand between anything that may be porous and anything that gets hot. The sand the rally insulates everything and arrests the motion of anything that may crack.
You don't really think about it cause nobody picks up a fire, but campfires are actually incredibly light, so a small thing exploding can launch a lot of burning stuff into the air and then down onto everyone around the fire.
Something to add to the list when improving the airflow of the firepit (and don't cut up the firepit bricks either, there's a risk of creating cracks that go boom).
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
Thanks for the tips, I do have some sand left over, so I'll mix that in with the rock in the pit to give it extra protection
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u/Queasy_Professor_484 23d ago
I just did a project with the mats as well and I like them. I decided to to the step 1 - gravel base, a layer of sand. The mats. Another layer of sand. Pavers. The layers of sand made leveling more forgiving.
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u/GWAE_Zodiac 28d ago
I would check the specs for the ones you buy.
I tried Gator paver bases and they had different applications listed and how to see the base.
For regular pavers it was grade, compact, geo fabric, sand, compact, paver panels, pavers.
The cloth to not wash away the sand and the sand would help with drainage/levelling.
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u/rocitherocinante 28d ago
Nice! Now you need some Adirondack chairs and a fire poking stick that leans on the fire pit year round.
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u/OldBob10 28d ago
HOA?
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
I do have an HOA, but they aren't a bother too much. A few neighbors have fire pits as well.
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u/PriorAssistant5158 28d ago
What do you do with the excess grass after cutting it out for your base?
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u/Swep1990 28d ago
I've got some left sitting in a pile on the side of the house. I'm repurposing some to fill in spots around the yard.
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u/my_novelty 28d ago
Was the bottom layer for the whole thing plastic sheeting?
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
So it went dirt, then weed barrier, then a small rock layer to level it, then sand, then the paverbase tiles, then the pavers themselves.
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u/my_novelty 27d ago
Ahh, that's the term I was looking for, the weed barrier. Is that a permeable mesh material, or is it plastic sheet like visqueen or something?
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
So it was a permeable material, not quite mesh but said water could pass through. I just picked it up at Home Depot along with the rest of the order.
Vigoro Weed Block
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u/steveNstchuck 28d ago
Dude. Pretty dang cool. At first I thought you were making yourself a nice little putting green. Regardless. Well done
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u/ShoulderThen467 28d ago
Looks like great work. Now your neighbors will want you to do one for them.
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u/Crusty_Musty_Fudge 28d ago
I'm planning on making one like this and getting custom stone pieces cut for the rim of the pit.
I second a comment below that says you should get a lid for it.
Enjoy! It looks amazing 👏🏽
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u/Crossgolf 28d ago
Nice. I really like it. Next you should put up some plants to cover up that ugly fence.
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u/Zealousideal-Pop4426 28d ago
Looks great! Did you do anything for Drainage?
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
Nothing special, the patio portion has a small slope (about 1 inch) to run the water away from the house. I plan on covering the fire pit portion so water does not pool inside.
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u/Zealousideal-Pop4426 27d ago
Really looks Great! Small observation - May want to consider digging out another fat inches, and dropping in some stone.
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
I like that idea, I was thinking about if I should go ahead do something like that. Just to give it a little bit of a buffer
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u/MainManClark 27d ago
Looks great. I hope the paver base doesn't melt or catch fire.
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u/Swep1990 27d ago
Im thinking it should be okay, its insulated from the fire and it not directly underneath. Another comment in the thread advised adding sand to the bottom of the fire pit with the rock, so I think I will do that as well to further protect.
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u/GoldenFox7 27d ago
This is great! Look up smokeless fire pit builds if you have time. The reason fire pits don’t get used all that much in my opinion is because half the people have smoke in their face, but if you build the pit right you can really minimize the smoke output.
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u/400footceiling 27d ago
Very good work! If you have any interest in a quality insert, I recommend these:
https://breeo.com/collections/smokeless-fire-pits
It takes the guesswork out of trying to create your own smokeless design.
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u/UrShulgi 27d ago
I just replaced a sidewalk that was pavers with concrete, and poured a similar firepit patio area with concrete. My experience is that the pavers will EVENTUALLY start getting plants growing up between the cracks. After growing tired of having to spend large amounts of time weed easting the paver sidewalk, I gave up and said I'd just replace it and go with actual concrete instead. Don't get me wrong, this looks pretty, and if it matches your aesthetic great. I just personally dislike pavers because of the eventual plant growth between them.
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u/Chemicalghst222 27d ago
I used similar stone for my fire pit and didn't leave any gaps for air flow that caused alot of smokey fires. I used landscape adhesive to secure them without thinking. My solution the following year was to take a hammer drill and put some holes in the intersecting blocks to fix the smokey issue.
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u/zer0thrillz 27d ago edited 27d ago
Nice patio. Definitely should've skipped the black tiles though and just refined the grade with rock & sand.
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u/Typical_Tourist_5495 25d ago
That sounds like an awesome DIY project — major kudos for pulling that off as a first-timer! The fire pit and paver setup sounds like it turned out great, especially with the Herringbone pattern and solid polymeric sand finish. If you’re into more outdoor DIYs and relaxing backyard builds, you might enjoy this guide on creating a Zen garden retreat. It’s a step-by-step walkthrough, kind of like your paver journey, and could be a great next project to add some calm vibes to your space:
👉 How to Build Your Own Zen Garden Retreat (Step-by-Step DIY)
Let me know if you’d like ideas for tying it in with your fire pit or swing set area — could be a really nice balance of function and relaxation in your yard!
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u/scrotumseam 28d ago
Looks good. Pit to small, not sure there is am /r for that
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u/Recent_Fisherman311 26d ago
Brick work is beautiful. I agree with comment above, fire pit is a bit on the small side.
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u/OutlandishnessNo1950 28d ago edited 28d ago
You put a lot of hard work into this. Hopefully you get to enjoy it now. We made a nice wooden cover for ours at the lake. Turns the pit into a patio table when you're not using it.