added by
dgabe to
Outside (23 months ago)
One of the more difficult parts of this project came as I neared the top level. Not only was I trying to fit things together side by side, which is why a chisel is handy, but I was now working against the grain of my "varying heights" idea. Sure, it may look cool, but is most definitely a challenge to get things even again towards the top. By now the project had become a vertical puzzle as well as a horizontal one. This is where having various thicknesses of stone helped a lot.
The photo shown here was my last level before placing the cap stones. I set the fire brick and mortared it together. While building the fire pit I left a few small gaps for ventilation, which I took into account when placing the fire brick. I ended up with 3 narrow gaps for air flow when all was said and done. If I did it over, I wouldn't have done that. It was one of the tips that I kept reading over and over, but with a fire pit this size, I don't really need additional air flow.by Erin Lang Norris