Having a backyard fire pit gives you a great place to sit around with family and friends on summer nights or cooler nights. Although fire pits are sold in many stores, building your own gives you more control over how it looks. You can design your own fire pit, construct it yourself, and set it up to use right away. If you’re not sure of what kind of fire pit to build, the following ideas can get you started.
Fire pits can be built above ground, but they don’t have to be. You can build an in-ground fire pit for a cozier feel in your yard. Just make sure you check for underground utilities before you dig. Your in-ground fire pit should be placed in a spot that’s far enough away from your home to reduce the risk of home fires. For in-ground fire pits, you’ll also need to make sure the area you choose won’t have pooling water when it rains. You can make your in-ground fire pit as big or as small as you need it to be. You can also choose different shapes for the design, such as circular, oval or rectangular.
When you’re making a DIY fire pit, you can get as creative as you want in terms of its appearance. Your fire pit can have a traditional square or circular shape, or you can choose a more unusual shape, such as triangular or octagonal, to make your fire pit stand out more. Having a custom-shaped fire pit also gives you the option to put it in an area of your yard that has an odd layout.
A ring-shaped fire pit allows you and family or friends to comfortably sit on all sides for warmth. Building this shape of fire pit can create a cozy feel compared to fire pits with angular shapes. You can also get creative with a circular fire pit design, such as building a back on it on one side or stacking bricks in an unusual pattern.
You can combine your DIY fire pit with a grill if you want to save space in your yard. Instead of having a separate grilling station and fire pit, having both in one frees up room while also providing a convenient spot to grill hot dogs or other foods while sitting around the fire. A fire pit grill is an ideal choice if you typically enjoy spending a lot of time grilling.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
