Fire Pit Under an Awning: Heat Goes Straight Up
My sister Marnie walked onto my back porch two winters ago, took one look at the little steel fire bowl I’d hauled up from the yard sale on Wheaton Street,…
A Pergola Over a Fire Pit: Pretty and Pushing Your Luck
I bought a solid roof pergola for my patio in April, before I’d even ordered the fire pit, because I saw a photo of one online and decided the two…
An Open Fire Pit in the Backyard: Who Decides?
Okay so backyard fire pits have this reputation of being the easiest, most “just go outside and do it” purchase in the whole outdoor category. You see one on someone’s…
Sandstone Fire Pits: Pretty and Layered
I built my first fire pit out of raw sandstone slabs I bought from a landscape yard on the east side of Indianapolis, and I want to be upfront that…
Chimineas on a Deck: Put Something Fireproof Under It
I logged it, obviously, because that is the kind of person I am: fourteen googles for “can you put a chiminea on a deck” between September and January, four of…
Gazebo Fire Pit Debate: Does a Roof Change Everything?
My friend Dana sent me a photo at eleven at night of her brand new ten by twelve gazebo with a fire pit table already glowing away underneath it, captioned…
Fire Pits in a Neighborhood: The Rules Nobody Reads
My neighbor Dale texted me a photo of my own backyard, taken from his kitchen window, no caption, just the picture, at 9:47 on a Tuesday night. Smoke was drifting…
Concrete Under a Fire Pit: The Marks It Leaves
I have scorched concrete under my patio table right now. Actual permanent black moon shaped shadow, about eighteen inches across, exactly where the base of my fire pit sat for…
Fire Pits on the Beach: Sand Is Not a Free Pass
I was standing on a beach in South County a few Octobers back, at the point in the evening where the sky goes that particular shade of purple that makes…
Using a Cracked Chiminea: Do Crack Sizes Matter?
My mom sent a photo to the family group chat last month of her chiminea, the metal one that’s lived on her patio since basically forever, with a crack running…