Many people believe that a great way to improve the back yard of a property is to add a homemade barbecue fire pit. While many specialty stores sell kits that allow for the setup of a backyard barbecue area, many of these pits can cost thousands of dollars. By using common materials, following clear instructions, and putting in some elbow grease, even an average handyman has the ability to build a solid homemade barbecue fire pit. Does this Spark an idea?
Choosing Your Design
Homemade pits follow two types of designs and/or styles. One is the brick design, which is stationary and can be added to a back yard as a permanent addition to the outdoor decor. The second is the metal design, which is more like a portable fire pit and is movable when cool.
Whatever design you follow will determine what materials you need, as well as which instructions you must follow.
Homemade Brick Barbecue Fire Pit
For a brick fire pit, you will need a shovel, bricks, gravel, sand, and a grill. Find the right area to build the pit. The location should be nowhere near a house or other outbuilding, away from trees and low-hanging branches, and away from fences (those bricks can get very hot while cooking).
Next, dig your hole. The size can vary based on what you need; remember that you want it to be large enough to cook, but you also have to supply more bricks for a larger fire pit. Dig 6 to 12 inches deep. This hole is where you will put the sand and gravel.
Fill the hole half and half, with the sand on top. If you dig a 12-inch hole, fill it with 6 inches of gravel, smooth the gravel out, then add 6 inches of sand. This creates a much more stable setting for your fire pit than uneven ground, and sand makes it easier to contain the fire. It also makes cleanup much easier.
To finish your brick homemade BBQ fire pit, create a circle out of the bricks or flat stones that you are using. The circle should start on the edge of the sand, and encompass the center. It's OK if there is sand outside of the ring since this will help prevent loose sparks from escaping.
These stones need to fit together as tightly as possible, so use the mallet to wedge the bricks in tighter, if need be. Once you have a tight ring, build the second and third on top, also using the mallet to squeeze the bricks together.
Add the grill on top whenever you want to cook out and your brick homemade barbecue fire pit is all set to go.
Homemade Metal BBQ Fire Pit
To make the metal homemade barbecue fire pit, you will need metal pipe with thin outside walls, machine screws, nuts for the machine screws, a metal tub, drill with bit, screwdriver, hacksaw, hammer, a grill, and protective gear for eyes and ears.
While you can purchase a new steel tub or even just the metal to mold and weld yourself, many people have recommended finding the old stainless steel washing machine tubs. These naturally work great for fire pits because they don't rust and are already built in the right shape. These can be found in many scrap yards and it is worth the extra little bit of time to look for one.
After gathering all the needed materials, use the hacksaw to cut your metal pipe into three equal lengths. These will be used for the legs. Make sure the lengths of pipe are long enough to keep the bottom of the pit at least 6 inches off the ground. The tops of the pipes should also be about 5 inches short of the top rim of the fire pit.
Use the hammer to "flatten" one side of each pipe for about 4 inches from the top. You want it flat so you can drill through the pipe and fasten it to the tub. Having a flattened surface near the top helps guarantee this since the flat metal will be right up against the stainless steel tub. Then drill two to four holes in the pipe for the bolts to go through. Two is the minimum, although more can offer better support.
Bolt the legs to the tub. Test the balance to make sure your new fire pit is stable, and that's it. You now have a stable, and even portable, homemade metal barbecue fire pit. Just toss on the grill whenever you're cooking to get going.
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