Make My Day Camp: DIY: Al and Cathy make a fire pit

Thursday, April 11, 2019

DIY: Al and Cathy make a fire pit

Al and Cathy made this fire pit that turned out so great and I just love - every time I go to their house I remember that I want to post it, but then I keep forgetting what they did and have to ask again (I'm sure that's driving Al crazy!), so I just need to write it up already so you can see it and be inspired to create your own!

It's a whiskey barrel base (find at home improvement stores or gardening centers) topped with a half-inch plywood circle topped with half inch Hardibacker# brand board, which is a cement board.

Arrange broken stone tiles to fit the top, Cathy said this was the hardest and most time consuming part - did she want a design, add any other material to create a mosaic pattern, or freeform no-pattern - playing with how to get the tiles laid just right took some patience. Once you've figured where you want the pieces glue them in place and then grout the entire top(check the package instructions for directions on how to grout). After tiling and grouting they sealed it with a grout sealer. This is what Al had to say about the sealer:

It ended up being the sealer was not sufficient enough waterproofing. We originally had it covered with a weatherproof vinyl cover but Cathy did not like the appearance so she insisted on taking it off. After the rain and sprinklers got on it the moisture was enough to warp the plywood and crack all the tiles off. After redoing it we now have it covered again.