In almost every garden there is an ideal place for a self-built fire pit. This is best located where flammable objects and woody plants such as trees, bushes and other plants are at least 80 meters away.
Which natural stones are suitable for a fireplace in the garden?
Hard stones such as granite or bas alt are suitable for building a fireplace. Avoid soft rocks such as sandstone, limestone, slate or pebbles as they can crack or even explode under heat. Granite is ideal for surrounding the fireplace.
Which types of natural stone are suitable for building a fireplace?
Before you start building your fire pit, you must first select suitable materials. Not every rock is suitable for such a project, this is especially true for many natural stones. Above all, so-called soft rock - which includes, for example, sandstone, limestone and slate - as well as pebbles have no place in a fireplace. When exposed to high heat, they can quickly burst and even explode - and their splinters can be thrown up to ten meters away, which can cause serious injuries if a person is hit. It is better to use hard rock, such as granite or bas alt, to build the fire pit. Granite, often used for such a purpose, is only suitable for the border.
How to build a fire pit with natural stones
Building a fire pit takes about two to three days. So it's best to plan a weekend with nice weather - rainy, damp weather could become problematic later due to the moisture that penetrates, and the mortar will also dry more poorly afterwards.
Materials
In terms of materials, you will need different natural stones, depending on which ones you want to use. For example, a border made of granite steles, some of which are buried in the ground, looks interesting. In these instructions, however, we work with cut granite stones, each with an edge length of around 10 centimeters. You will need around 300 of these. You will also need four bags of fireproof cement mortar each weighing 30 kilograms and approx. 100 kilograms of sand or gravel.
How to build
And this is how the natural stone fireplace is built:
- First measure the dimensions of the fire pit at the desired location.
- Mark this one.
- Dig a pit about 10 to 15 centimeters deep.
- Remove the sod.
- Fill the pit with sand.
- Stamp it firmly.
- Surround the fireplace with a wall of mortared granite stones.
Do not fill the fireplace with pebbles, as is sometimes recommended. These burst very quickly when exposed to heat and are therefore not suitable for this purpose.
Tip
Before you build and use the fireplace, you should first obtain a permit from your local public order office - maintaining an open fire has required permits in most German communities for many years and is only permitted at certain times of the year.
