Fire Pit : Finished!

So, for Pat's birthday -- back in April -- I told him I'd buy a fire pit. We looked at some kits and fire bowls and the like, and decided to do a DIY project. I bought a fire ring from Lowe's and stuffed it into the back of the Camaro, dug out a pit once he'd decided where he wanted it to go, and voila! Instant campfire feel.

First fire in the new ring. Trying to set down some ashes and settle the pit before adding paver stones to the outside.

A photo posted by Karen (@kiirenza) on May 3, 2015 at 7:10pm PDT

We finally got the paver base just about a month ago, and at that point, Pat picked out what color stones we wanted. So, with my plans for a trip to Hersheypark this week getting stalled out due to car issues, I asked if I could use the truck today to pick up the retaining stones. He said it was okay, and so this morning, I ordered the stones online and went to pick them up a little while afterwards.

I wish Pat had warned me about how awful Lowe's online order-pickup at store deal was. I got the email saying the order was ready at 12:53PM, and got to the store just before 2PM. After getting my invoice at customer service, I proceed to wait outside until 2:30 when a cart-return guy (I think his name was Leon) asks me if I need some help with something. I told him what I was waiting for, and he went inside to check up on my order. He came back a few moments later and said I should talk to the customer service guys that were in the garden/landscape area, which I did. Finally, I got to talk to the guys who would be doing the heavy lifting, and took the truck around to where it would finally be loaded up. An hour after I'd arrived, I finally had the stones.

Once home, it took no time at all to construct the rest of the pit.

First layer

I started with the initial circle using the ring itself as the template. Pat came home just as I was finishing the first layer, and I asked him if he still wanted a second. He said yeah, and started bringing stones over too. In under thirty minutes, the last of the stones was in place.

Twenty-four stones later...

I'd bought 26 stones total, knowing each layer should only be twelve stones, but accounting for the possibility of breaking one or more.

So, if it finally stops raining and stays relatively cool, the new-and-improved fire pit will be even more awesome! :)