How to Build a Stone Ring Fire Pit in Your Backyard

A stone ring fire pit is one of the easiest backyard projects you can build in a weekend. You dig a shallow circle, lay a gravel base, and stack retaining wall blocks or natural stone around a steel fire ring. No mortar or concrete is needed. Below are the build steps, plus the safety rules that matter once it’s lit.

Before You Build: Rules and Placement

Check with your city or fire department first. Some towns ban wood fires outright or during dry spells, some require a permit, and many HOAs have their own rules. Before you dig, call 811 so buried utility lines can be marked for free.

Then pick the spot. The Kansas State Fire Marshal recommends keeping a fire pit at least 10 feet from any structure or neighboring yard, with 25 feet preferable, and never under a covered porch or low branches. Your local code may set a different number, and theirs is the one that counts. Choose flat ground with room for chairs all the way around, and keep a garden hose within reach.

Tools and Materials

Tools: shovel, wheelbarrow, hand tamper, 4-foot level, rubber mallet, tape measure, a stake and string, marking paint, a caulk gun, work gloves, and eye protection.

Materials:

• A steel fire ring insert. It keeps direct flame off the blocks, which helps them last, and it sets the inside diameter for you.
• Retaining wall blocks or flat natural stone for the walls. Many home centers sell kits with angled blocks and a matching ring.
• Paver base (crushed gravel) for the foundation.
• Lava rock or gravel for the floor of the pit, so water drains away.
• Masonry adhesive for the top course, if you want the cap glued in place.

How to Build a Stone Ring Fire Pit

1. Mark the circle. Most backyard pits are 36 to 44 inches across inside, big enough for a real fire but close enough to talk across. Drive a stake at the center. Tie a string to it at the outside radius of your ring, measured from the kit’s instructions or by dry-laying the blocks around the steel ring, and walk the string around while spraying marking paint.
2. Dig it out. Remove the grass and dig the whole circle about 6 inches deep, a few inches wider than the outer edge of the blocks. Kansas fire officials recommend a pit at least 6 inches deep at the center to keep embers contained.
3. Build the base. Spread 3 to 4 inches of paver base, wet it lightly, and tamp it firm. Check it with the level in several directions. A level base is what keeps the walls from leaning later.
4. Set the first course. Center the steel ring on the base and lay the first ring of blocks snugly around it. Level each block front to back and side to side, tapping it down with the rubber mallet. Take your time here, because every course above follows this one.
5. Stack the walls. Lay the next courses so each block sits over the joint between two blocks below, like brickwork. Three courses, roughly 18 inches tall, is a comfortable height for sitting around.
6. Glue the top course. Run a bead of masonry adhesive on the course below, keeping it toward the outer edge, and press the top blocks or cap stones into place.
7. Finish the floor. Pour 2 to 3 inches of lava rock or gravel inside the ring so rain drains through instead of pooling.
8. Wait, then start small. Let the adhesive cure for the time on its label before the first fire, and keep the first fire small.

Finish the area around the pit with pea gravel or pavers rather than grass, which will scorch and gets trampled. Our hardscaping guide compares surface materials.

Building a Fire Pit With Natural Rocks

Flat fieldstone or flagstone makes a more rustic pit. Follow the same steps, but dry-stack the stones so each one bridges two below it, and choose the flattest pieces for the bottom course. Because natural stone varies, the walls take longer to get level.

Keep river rocks and other stones from streambeds away from the flames. They can hold water inside, and when that water turns to steam it can crack the stone or send pieces flying. A steel ring insert or a lining of fire brick keeps direct heat off whatever stone you use.

Fire Pit Safety Every Time You Light It

• No accelerants. The Kansas State Fire Marshal warns never to use gasoline, lighter fluid, or other flammable liquids to light or relight a fire. Use a fire starter and kindling.
• Check the wind. Clear anything flammable downwind, and don’t light a fire on a windy day.
• Burn only dry firewood. Never burn trash, painted or pressure-treated wood, or old railroad ties, which can give off toxic smoke.
• Keep water close. Have a hose or a bucket of water nearby, and a spark screen if embers tend to fly.
• Put it out completely. Drown the fire, stir the ashes, and drown it again until everything is cool to the touch.

For other designs, from block kits to sunken pits, see our DIY fire pit ideas, and for seating and layout around the fire, our ideas for cozy fire pit areas.

Frequently Asked Questions