How to check if an existing backyard fire pit is safe
Pre-existing fire pits made of random stones risk cracking or exploding under high heat if they are not built correctly. Homeowners inherit these structures without knowing if they are safe to use or if they require safety inserts and reconstruction before lighting a fire.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1installing a steel insert with an air gap
- 2placing a smokeless fire pit inside the existing stone area
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I don’t know if it was ever used before we moved in and want to make sure it is built correctly, and not out of some stones that will explode or something. Maybe it needs an insert?”source ↗
“We want to build a fire pit area in our backyard, but unsure of where to put it.”source ↗
“Logically I feel like it should go in the area off of the steps in the first 2 pics, but I’m concerned about the trees that are above that area.”source ↗
“My husband originally wanted to put it where we had a tree removed (in the 3rd picture) and just use edging stone and gravel in that circle area.”source ↗
“The big orange dot in the 3rd picture is where I think it makes more sense, but again I’m concerned about it being somewhat under the trees”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 2How to tell if bad patio installation is poor workmanship