Lining the inside of a firepit?

Hi folks. I couldnt pass up the sale HD had on paver bricks for .25 each so I picked 200 and built a square firepit out of them. Inside dimensions are 32X32. Right now it is about 2 feet high. I was planning on lining the inside with a heat resistant material. Are there other options than fire brick? Six fire bricks are more than the 200 paver bricks I bought to build it I was curious about using ceramic tile along with a heat rated adhesive. I planned on lining it and placing some lave rock about half way up and mounting a grate on the inside just above the lava rock.

EatenByLimestone said:

Be very careful that those pavers do not absorb water. The heat from the fire will turn the water to steam and can cause pavers, and rocks to explode.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7360348_rocks-explode-around-fire-pits.html

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http://www.homedepot.com/p/4-in-x-8-in-45-mm-River-Red-Holland-Concrete-Paver-22051EA/100619492

Here are the paver bricks I used. I might just go ahead and buy the fire bricks and line the inside. Tractor Supply has them for $3 a piece.

Thanks for the feedback..

mwhitnee said:

Measure the inside of the fire pit (32x32x20), go to your local metal fab shop and have them make a metal square for the inside. Get sand and pour between the outside of the metal square and the brick for added heat protection. You can paint the metal square with high temp paint.

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This is an excellent idea. Unfortunately I found some fire brick at Tractor Supply a few days ago. They had them in the back since it is out of season. They were $2.99 each and they gave me 15% off so it was about $160 for 62 bricks. I plan on lining the inside with those along with some heat proof cement I have on order. I need to figure out how to get them to stay in place as the cement sets now. I'm reading that the cement usable time is pretty short so I am hoping it grabs quickly....

I figured I would post a couple of pics of the finished firepit. Total cost about $250. Most of that was the firebrick lining the inside. The paver bricks were on sale at home depot for .25 a piece. I went to a sheet metal shop and got a 16 gauge piece of sheet metal (3X3), painted the outside in heat resistant black paint, trimmed the outside with cedar for privacy fences and bolted in a handle - total cost about $30 for the snuffer - they were about $150 online. Got a couple of sticks of 3/8 rebar and welded the grate with a few pieces of bar metal sewn in to stop the wood from falling threw too quick. The part I like the best is the park grill from Amazon. It was about $150 and solid as a rock. Placed it in about 18 inches of quickrete. A fun weekend DIY project that didn't cost a fortune

Seasoned Oak said:

How does this perform as i see no provision to get air in from the bottom. Did you do a test fire yet? Is the grill removable for cleaning out the ashes?

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I have burned 4 fires in it so far. No issues with air circulation. I think it is big enough and the very slight space between the brick pavers provides enough. The grate is another issue . It is not removable as I built it before I attached the rim. My plans were to flush the inside of the top edge, which would allow me to remove it but it didn't look right so I have an overlap on the inside of the pit. I have an ash vacuum that I will use when the ashes need to come out. On down the road I will probably reduce the size of the grate to whee I can remove it.

semipro said:

Nice work!
Any photos of it in action?
That last pick is so cool! It looks like the dog is levitating the ball.

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Thanks! His name is Dozer! He is a hot mess! He could care less about the firepit......