Backyard Project: Firepit
Project Difficulty:
Project Requirements
- Retaining Wall Blocks
- Crusher Run Gravel
- Landscape Adhesive
- Sand
- 3/4 inch conduit
- 2x4x8
- Level
- Polymeric Sand
- Paver Stones
- 48 Trapezoidal Retaining Wall Blocks
- 48 Mini Pavers (or 24 of the larger ones that can be cut in half)
- Fire Ring
- Furniture of your liking
- Caulk gun
- Circular Saw
- Masonry Blade
- Tamper
Covid-19 has had a major impact on the home improvement industry. People are home more and consequently, making their homes their own personal vacation destinations. We had an ongoing backyard project in the works prior to Covid but the pandemic made us step up the pace. One of the bigger projects was the Firepit. Firepits by themselves are relatively easy and would be considered a smaller DIY project, but I wanted to utilize the retaining wall that I built last year to create a really inviting fire pit area.
My plans were to use the retaining wall as a backdrop to the firepit and build a quarter circle flooring for the location of the firepit. For this project, I went by the following steps:
Retaining Wall Build
1. Create an outline of where you want your wall to be built
Since I was creating a semi-circle, I posted a stake at the back corner of my retaining wall and then tied a string to it. I pulled the string to where I wanted the outside edge of my wall and tied a second stake to it. I then just used a can of spray paint to create an outline of the wall.
2. Dig
The retaining wall blocks that I used were 7 inches in width so I dug a trench at least 3 inches deep and 9 inches wide. I followed my outline and dug towards the inside of my line.
3. Gravel base
Use 3 inches of crusher run gravel as your base for the paver stones. Then tamp down the gravel
4. Lay your retaining wall blocks
Start on one of the sides and work your way towards the other side. Do not start in the middle at the lowest point…. You will need to keep a level handy with you through this whole process. The first few stones should be easy if your build is like mine. I had a slope though and the task got progressively more difficult. The key is to always keep the top stone level in both directions with the last one as your move down the line. When you get deeper into your slope, you may have to remove some of the gravel that you laid and drop a stone in deeper. I always tried to make sure that at least an inch of retaining wall block was below the surface of the dirt. Use your adhesive glue as you go but only glue when you know all of your stones in that section will result in the top stone being 100% level. LUCKILY for me, I did not need to cut any stones when I got to the end of my wall….this was pure luck and likely would never happen again. When you get to the end, if you need to cut a stone, use your masonry blade and a circular saw to cut the proper length of your final stone. Put the cut end towards the outside end of the wall. My stones were all tumbled, so any time I made cuts, I slightly battered the sharp edges with a stone hammer to create a consistent look (or I hid my cuts in my placement).
Patio Flooring Build
- More digging….. Level the dirt as much as possible. Make sure that you have 4 inches from the top of your retaining wall blocks. Tamp down the dirt and pack it in really good!
- Gravel base. Use crusher run gravel and add 3 inches of base and tamp it down solid. When you’re walking on it at this point, it should feel like walking on concrete versus in gravel.
3. SAND and PAVERS. Add your sand on top of the gravel. You only need 1 inch or less of sand…. Anything more and you risk your pavers shifting over time. You want to create a slope of 1/8 of in inch per foot. Use your two 3/4 inch conduit and lay it on to the gravel about 6 feet a part. You will add your sand and use the 2×4 to screed the sand to make it level and smooth. Now do this part in sections because of how difficult it would be to start your patio from the round edges. Drop your pavers one by one.
3a. Paver Laying… I purchased 400 square feet of randomized paver shapes. To lay these, you must essentially follow 2 basic rules to keep from creating any weak points to your flooring: 1) Do not create 4 corners and do not create long straight lines. Following these will ensure your flooring is solid.
3b. Lay your sand and pavers all the way as far as possible to the round edges of your flooring. Then you will need to make your cuts all at once.
4. Cutting pavers. Use your circular saw and masonry blade to cut stones. To cut correctly, you will need to take two measurements. One on each side where you will make your cuts and then draw a line along the
5. Add in polymeric sand. Follow the directions on the bag but basically, you just want to use a push broom to get the sand into every joint in your flooring, then lightly dampen, repeat until the joints are completely filled and solid.
Firepit Build
Step 1 for me involved cutting my mini pavers. Home Depot has been low on lots of supplies during the pandemic, especially items for firepits. So I cut the small pavers in half to create the look and style that I needed. Then I placed the stones where I wanted them on my patio. You can measure this out geometrically if you choose but I did not like dead center of the patio so I eye-balled where I wanted and made sure it was equi-distant on both sides.
Use landscape adhesive and then set your next layer of stones. Make sure that you offset them from the first layer.
I went 4 layers up but this is a choice of taste. Do what fits your likes!
Add your fire ring and you are more or less done!
Final Touches
At this point, I added a few layers of sand and then some lava rocks in the bottom to protect the pavers. Then last more definitely not least is to purchase furniture to go around your firepit. I searched everywhere and found nice items at Costco, Amazon and Wayfair. Ultimately, we ended up purchasing from Wayfair as the items that they had seemed to match the style that we liked. This project took about a month because I worked on this in the evenings after work and on the weekends. Counting hours, this could have taken about 24 hours total, or about 3 full days of working. I will add links below to all of the items purchased for this project. Enjoy!
Purchased Items:
Retaining Wall Blocks: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Olde-Manor-Allegheny-Retaining-Wall-Block-Common-4-in-x-12-in-Actual-3-5-in-x-11-5-in/4686335
Pavers Stones: https://www.pavestone.com/productfamily/Venetian
Fire Ring: https://amzn.to/3g1glTY
Silica Sand for Fire Pit: https://amzn.to/2QdYSN0
Red Lava Rock: https://amzn.to/3uH0HBa
I’m Rick, husband to Marj and father to 3 awesome kids. I will be sharing my love of cooking, home projects, repairs and my opinions on various products.
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Wow! Such an amazing area. I must get mt husband to complete our outdoor projects. Beautiful!!