Fire pit installation in Mansfield, MA

A fire pit is the thing you end up using most, and the thing most often dropped onto a patio that wasn't planned for it. Building it into the layout from the start is what makes it feel like part of the yard instead of an afterthought.

The size most people actually enjoy is smaller than they expect. A pit three to four feet across inside is a comfortable circle for four to six people, and it throws heat you can feel from the chairs around it. A pit built too big gives you a fire that looks impressive and warms nobody, because everyone has to sit further back.

Siting is the part that gets skipped and then regretted. The pit wants level ground, clearance from anything that can catch, and a spot where smoke leaves rather than hangs in the seating area. Building it into the patio layout from the start settles all of that, and lets the seating and the grade around it be planned together with the pit.

Wood or gas is the other real choice. Wood is the classic and most people picture it, gas starts and stops clean. Either way the bowl gets built to last and the stone around it is detailed to match the patio, so the pit looks like it was always meant to be there.

• Built into the patio layout, with seating sized to the circle
• Matching stone, caps or a steel insert for a clean bowl
• Clearance and grade around the pit planned for drainage
• Seat walls, steps and lighting detailed alongside it