The next fire pit was designed by and built for Kevin Leys of Chicago. He did a great job and you decide.
First he started with a single wall construction fire box with a pan on the top
Then it was framed for exterior plywood or you could use metal studs and wonder board.
The gas valve was located to the outer framed wall
This is a natural gas fire pit. It was tested as soon as it turned dark, fun!
Now we add the crushed lave rock and glass over that. There are many sub materials you can use as a filler. Just ask.
Great back yard by the way! Chicago, remember?
Now we start to apply the tile for the finishing touch.
On this page (as if you needed another page) We are going to show you how to build a basic fire pit for your deck/ back yard.
This was built by Glenn Harvey of British Columbia.
This first picture is the frame he had started with.
You can make one from metal studs, aluminum studs, etc. Anything non flammable.
Wrap it with wonder board or durock/ cement board.
Below you can also wrap it with wire for better adhesion to the backer board.
This fire pit was natural gas. We also manufacture the burners for propane. Well, we are the only ones who actually manufacture propane burners for your projects.
Below you can see the gas connection coming up from the deck. Glenn used a pan but he also could of used an aluminum/ stainless steel base plate as well.
The stacker stone is now being applied.
As you can see below the trimming valve is installed on the side. You would be surprised on how many plumbers don't think of this little detail, a valve to turn it on or off. I have seen the valves installed inside of the pit or not even at all. You also need to be careful as to not have a gas line installed that is too small for the application.
Now the stone and cap are done, great and simple job!
Below you an see the larger filler lava rock was installed. If a flat plate were to have been used you wouldn't need the larger filler lava rock base.
Below our crushed lava was used to cover the larger lava rock to insure the glass does not fall through. This makes an even base. What ever shape you make the lava is the shape the glass will take.
Below we installed Water White base glass (32 lbs) for a 1 1/2" cover!
The stone on the side of the fire pit used was to match the stone on the house as well. Looks awesome!
Below is just the Water White before the colors were added.
The colors that were added are as follows:
Azurlite and Azurlite Reflective for the sky area.
Brilliant Yellow R20F4 Topper for the sun center
Scarlett G072F3 Topping for the suns rays
Orange R140F4 Topper for the ring around the suns center
Emerald Green 1417 Topping for the bottom trees/ grass?
Deep Blue 2507 Topper mixed in around the Azurlite in the sky area.
If you notice below the center of the sun, it changes when it get hot! This one of our chameleons that change when the glass gets hot. If you look real close at the Orange Topper (next to the suns center) as well, it turns a bright cinnamon red when it get hot also! All of our chameleons will be posted when we get a chance. This is just another one of our product lines that we have not had time to further promote.
Above is the fire burning and
below the fire was just turned off.
Glenn spent a few hours placing all of the glass to make this very cool scene. So don't just think you can just throw it on and it knows were to go. Very creative!
The fire pit below had the wrong type of burner let alone the location of the burner.
The burner must be with in 2" of the ultimate top of the surface of the fire pit. Filling the pit with gas and then trying to light it? Nothing good can become of this. We installed a #304 stainless steel "H" burner, covered it with crushed lava (1/4" / 3/8") over the larger lava rock. This is what keeps it from trickling to the bottom. Them we topped it with Starfire base glass. Then Eric is trying to decide which colors/ topper he should add if any at all.
Wrong type of burner above.
Our "H" burner below. Watch the flame pattern as the crushed lava covers the burners.
Now for the bid decision, more colors and which ones?
The fire pit below is in Palm Springs California. We use Azurlite Fireplace Glass and a crushed lava filler underneath. There were a few issues which we resolved.
First issue: Don't use polished Mexican Pebbles as they will chase you across the yard.
Above, second issue, the ring could of been bigger as we installed a triple 30" stainless steel rind.
Below, third issue the plumber installed a 3/8" reducer, why? :-~ The gas comes is with 1/2", the ring is 1/2" so the plumber installed a 3/8" reducer in between the gas supply and the ring. Why in the heck would he do this? Anyway we just installed a 1/2" flex line and the pressure was back and fine.
Cover the wrong material with at least 1 1/2" to 2" of crushed lava.
And pour the Azurlite Fire Pit Glass
We never were sent pictures of the fire pit burning, but we did test it during our installation.
The next few pictures are from New York by Jai Crandall for Tom Morgan. We can hep transform an eye soar to a place of enjoyment. Just watch!
November 10, 2009
Hello Ed, my name is Jai Crandall and I live in central NY. I have a good friend (Tom Morgan) that has a patio that he generally uses wood to throw some heat for his quests when he entertains. Unfortunately, as I'm sure you know, the smoke can really get to you after a while. This is a very high end home and he entertains for some very important people. He would like to eliminate the wood a replace them with some propane inserts. It doesn't have to look like a fireplace, but most importantly, it needs to throw some intense heat.
Pictures 1,2 and 3 are the front views of the fire pits and as you will notice they are not square ( each picture is labeled with the dimensions), they don't need to stay like they are, so if you want to make them square you can. Just go by the front measurement. Hopefully you can design something that will fit there needs.
I am sure that they are going to want electric ignition, and you can try to place the control valves in the front. Also, with the good New York weather, you want want to have covers for each unit.
Thank You so much for your time and I look forward to working with you to complete this project.
Jai Crandall
July 3, 2010
Now here are the finished pictures on the property. Very nice!
Hey Ed, Here are some pictures of the burners that I installed. They look great and they are very happy with their performance. Also, I believe that I may have a few more people interested in something similar to what I did for Tom Morgan. Have a great forth weekend and I will talk to you soon.
Jai
That's what I said when I first saw the project, YUK!!!! I tried to figure out what to do????
Jai cam up with the Stainless Steel hollow base design and we went to work.
This is a happy ending!
Our propane burners were set to 100,000 btu's each for maximum heat. The glass that we used was Bronze Rust Copper.
Fireplace Glass, Fireplaces Design, Fire Glass, Fire Pit Glass. Fireglass, Fire Glass
