This is my daughter’s brand new never-used firepit. She didn’t ask for my advice and I think her plastic chairs might melt if the fire gets too big. Copyright 2023 Tim Carter

Outdoor Firepit Planning Tips - Don't Get Too Close!

Autumn is my favorite time of year. I love the eye candy Mother Nature hands out here in the great Northeast USA. Add the fragrant aroma of a crackling outdoor fire feeding on seasoned oak and you have, in my opinion, the perfect outdoor setting. Breathing in a light wisp of this aromatic elixir takes me on a time-travel trip to my Boy Scout campouts, cooking on an open fire, and roasting marshmallows.

Two Kids Only One Asks For Advice

This past year two of my children built new firepits. My son’s was part of a new clay paving brick patio project. My oldest daughter was finally able to get her entire yard landscaped. She incorporated a stunning granite firepit on one of the uppermost tiers of the backyard. I know this is hard to believe, but I’ve yet to sit around either one to enjoy a late-afternoon fire.

You may not think you have to do much planning for a firepit. If so, you might make the mistake my daughter made. While the firepit is the correct diameter, 4 feet, the outer circle of gravel where you sit is too small. There’s less than 2 feet between her composite plastic chairs and the edge of the granite stones that surround the pit. She didn’t ask for my input in the planning phase.

My son did ask for my advice. Having built quite a few firepits for clients and having three firepits of my own, I know a thing or two about how hot fires can get and how close you should be so that your clothes don’t ignite or the soles of your shoes become softened globs of rubber!

One day while we were finished laying patio brick, my son asked, “Dad, can you give me a few ideas about my firepit? How big does the gravel pad need to be so the chairs don’t end up in the grass?”

I took a pencil and a piece of cardboard and started to make a quick sketch. The first thing we decided on was the diameter of the firepit. It’s my opinion that a 4-foot-diameter one is ideal. This measurement should be the outside of the fire-containment border no matter what material you use.

Beware of Thermal Shock

There are quite a few ways to create a fireproof ring. You can use a steel collar, simple small boulders, or precast concrete brick you might get at a home center. Be aware that real rocks and precast concrete will almost always crack over time. They don’t do well with the rapid and repeated thermal shock should you build a roaring fire on a cool or cold afternoon. For this reason, if you use those materials and cement them together, there’s a very good chance you’ll be tearing your firepit apart and starting over in a few years.

How To Size the Firepit Area

While my son and I were enjoying a lemonade, I completed my sketch. I started with a 4-foot circle then created a concentric ring around the firepit with a 30-inch space. Next, I drew a 4-foot-wide concentric circle that would be the area where chairs would be placed. I finished with a smaller 18-inch-wide circle of space behind the chairs.

When you add up all those numbers, you discover you need a circle that has a 10-foot radius. While you may scoff at this, I urge you to take one of your lawn chairs out onto your lawn and re-create the above dimensions I shared with my son.

You may not need 4 feet for your chairs because you’ll use a different style than the Adirondack chairs my son intends to use. But trust me on the 30-inch space between the chair and the outer edge of the firepit. Get too close to a roaring fire and you’ll soon be backing up.

Smoke, Embers, and Permits

Put some thought into the location of your firepit. Think about the wind. Do you have a prevailing wind direction in your yard? If so, embers and smoke can bother you or your guests that are downwind of the firepit.

Think about nearby combustibles. The last thing you want is to start a neighborhood grass or wildfire. Trust me, the Internet is littered with stories about fires caused by popping embers that ignite dry grass, low bushes, dry leaves, and mulch on fire.

Use common sense, lots of it, when you do have a fire. Have a pre-charged garden hose just feet away from the firepit. If something goes wrong, all you have to do is squeeze the handle and put out the spreading fire. If a hose is not practical, then have several 5-gallon buckets of water nearby. Be responsible and enjoy the warmth and aroma of a magical outdoor fire.

Finally, check with your local government. You may have to get a fire permit each year. I have to do this here in New Hampshire. In some locations, you’re not able to have a fire in the middle of the day. Volunteer fire department resources can be stretched very thin during the primary daylight hours.

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This porch was constructed in 1949. Its best days are undoubtedly behind it. Copyright 2023 Tim Carter

Repair Front Porch - Mosaic Tile and Concrete Base

In the past week, Don asked me for advice. He lives in the extreme northeast corner of North Carolina just 15 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. His front porch stoop is in very bad shape. Back in 1949 when the house was built, the tile setter used quarry tile to create a mosaic look on the flat surface. He then mortared full tiles to the sides and front of the poured concrete stoop.

Don shared that the repairmen he’s talked with are very nervous as to how to proceed. Some of the mosaic tiles are cracked and when you tap on some tiles it produces a hollow sound. Many of the full edge tiles are falling off. In other words, the 74-year-old porch is in poor condition.

Don mentioned that he and his wife want to keep the original look and he wondered what might be the best plan of attack. Based on the photographs he sent, my opinion is it’s time to get rid of all the old tile and rotten concrete base beneath the tile.

If Don hired me to do this job, the first thing I’d do is take photographs of the mosaic tile layout that forms the flat surface of the porch. If there was enough money in the budget, I’d create a map of the mosaic tiles. I’d take the time to trace the pattern of the tiles onto construction paper. These templates of each of the pieces of the random-shaped tile would be numbered and put on the map.

I know this is obsessive-compulsive, but if Don and his wife wanted the exact same look and money was not an object, then this is exactly what should be done. I’ve worked for customers in the past that had these financial resources. While it’s rare to have a budget that will allow this, I have to tell you it’s intensely rewarding work.

There are many possible reasons why Don’s porch fell apart. The truth be told, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t have lasted 150 years or more. For starters, Don lives in a very mild climate. While it does get cold and the temperature drops below freezing in winter months, it’s not the extreme cold I suffer from where I live in New Hampshire. It could even be worse had Don’s house been in International Falls, Minnesota!

I’m quite sure if I visited Don’s city I could locate several railroad bridges that were constructed in the early 1900s. The concrete abutments supporting the bridge beams are probably in good or very good condition. I can take you today to similar ones in Cincinnati, Ohio that suffer from much worse weather than what Don experiences. These railroad structures are in great condition.

The reason the railroad bridges are in such great shape is because the bridge engineers and designers specified that lots of Portland cement be used in the mix. Today the minimum specification for most exposed concrete is 4,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) or a six-bag mix. This means six 94-pound bags of cement are in each cubic yard of concrete. You can always add more cement. The cement is the glue that holds together the sand and stone in the concrete.

I would order an 8-bag mix for Don’s new concrete stoop. This might elevate the strength up and over 6,000 PSI. I’d also be tempted to add a bit more pure Portland cement to the thinset mix used to bond the new quarry tile to the concrete.

There are a few other things I’d do if Don hired me. For starters, I’d tell Don that the best weather to install the concrete and tile would be in the fall or spring. I’d want daytime temperatures to be around 60 F with no threat of rain. I’d want the nighttime temperature to not drop below 45 F.

I’d precut all the new mosaic tile and lay it out on a flat surface that matched the size of the new porch. I’d want to make sure all the tile were the correct size. This would be done before the new concrete porch stoop was poured.

I’d pour the new concrete porch late in the day on a Monday or Tuesday. I’d plan on installing new tile on the concrete the next morning at 7:30 AM. Cement paint would be used as a bonding agent between the fresh concrete and the thinset mortar. You add clear cold water to Portland cement mixing it to the consistency of gravy to create cement paint. I was taught to do this by wise concrete masons who applied cement stucco to exterior steps in Cincinnati many years ago.

Once the tiles were all set, I’d cover the tile with plastic to help retain the moisture in the fresh thinset and concrete base. I’d wait at least 48 hours before I’d think about grouting the tile. Once grouted, I’d cover the porch and edges again with plastic to hold in the moisture. I’d not take the plastic up for at least three days.

The concrete stoop, the thinset, and the cement-based grout all need water to cure properly. If water leaves these things too rapidly, they never attain their desired strength.

A month or two after the porch was finished, I’d apply a clear silane-siloxane sealer to the new porch. This would minimize water infiltration into the grout. Water that seeped into the grout and original concrete is what destroyed Don’s porch. Don’t let it happen to you.

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