Wood fire pit on patio - cleaning

[patiofirepit1]

Hi! I realize this is not exactly a fire pit forum but I saw some discussion about them and I was hoping to get some help.

I'm installing this fire pit on a patio (wood-burning). I obviously need to protect the patio from heat, so I was planning on putting down 3-4" of lava rock as a base. Technically that should work fine, but I feel like I may need to do something different. First of all, the ash from the fires is going to make a huge mess in the rock and be impossible to clean without removing all the lava rock. I guess I could try to do that once a year, but my other concern is water seeping into the pit. At some point I'm going to have water mix with ash and it'll probably end up leaving streaks all over my patio. Not really sure the best way to approach this.

Any suggestions? This is a beautiful fire pit and I'm looking forward to enjoying it with my family but I want to make sure I don't mar the patio or create a maintenance nightmare. Thank you!

 

[xman23]

I assume you or someone else is building that kit. It does say it comes with a metal pan and grill. Hopefully they mean grate for the wood to burn on. It should keep the wood elevated so you get a bit of air flow. I would question the thickness and quality of the metal pan, and grate, if there is one. I did see some base construction suggestions, on another page. Once built your stuck with the location and making it work. So if the ash is in the pan you shovel out. Hopefully you can pull the pan and dump. If you can find a closed metal domed top that stops rain water from getting in. A grill cover could work as well. It should help with some of your concerns. Just my thoughts, think it's beautiful, if it's what you want.

Although those permanent pits are classy, and pricey. I've always had a free standing pit. It's cheep, and easy to pick up and dump the ash into my metal ash bucket. I have a Coleman close to 20 years. Burn 4' and bigger fires in it. Just this year my wife got one of those deep bowl type fire pits. I think they are made for burning on decks. Something I would never do. The issue I envisioned is the fire would be so low you wouldn't see it. So I modified it. Got a round grate, reinforced it, (they will bend with the heat) and put on 8 inch legs. This all sits in the bowl, making the grate a few inches below the top edge. Plenty of room for ash. I made about a 14 inch round screen. It came with a top dome screen. It was nice, the fire burns out in the open for everyone to see. When done I pull the screen and my old Coleman solid dome lid covers it keeping out the rain.

 

[shortys7777]

I install these. Personally I don't like them but they are very popular. First of all they do come with a metal fire ring that slides in. Most unilock ones I install do. We do not lay the blocks on the patio blocks. We cut around and put the fire pit lower onto the 8" of compacted gravel. I'm guessing all that might happen is those blocks that the fire is on will crack over time. You can always just take the pieces out as they crack. There should be a little sand and compacted gravel below that. From experience I have seen some top caps crack from the heat in less than a year. The cement they pour into the molds are not made for that kind of heat (Unless they recently changed it). personally that is why I do not use them because I burn all kinds of scrap in my backyard and prefer a natural rock lower to the ground. The top caps will likely turn black from the smoke/ash too.

 

[kvncrll]

It appears your looking at an "aftermarket" fire pit application with the Unilock series fire pit. This product isn't intended for placement over the top of an existing patio paver. Instead, i would recommend the following applications. 1). Buy a Fire Pit Table (operates on a 20 lb. propane tank). Surface-mounted to existing paver decks. OR. 2) Build a simple (broken link removed) elsewhere on your property. You achieve the same look, but this method allows for a safe, real wood log, burning, away from your house structure. Good Luck either way!

 

[zrock]

A sheet of hardi board will make a good fire protection its fire proof and stops the heat as well for penetrating. I has a section in a wood furnace for a while and the pc's came out as they went in .

 

[Don2222]

What about a nice propane fire table with some pretty fire glass?
See pics

Lava Glass - What size and shape is best for an LP fire table?

Hello Just trying to keep up with the joneses so we picked up a 50k BTU LP Fire Table for the deck on sale at Lowes until Aug 30 th this week since there was only 3-4 left in our local store. I also hear that August will be cooler than normal this year??? Shop Bond 30-in W 50,000-BTU Black...

www.hearth.com

No mess no fuss just set it and forget it!!