It’s winter in sunny Arizona and the perfect time to enjoy our cool evenings sitting around an outdoor fire pit. There are several things to consider when planning your fire pit: type, location, and shape/style. At Arizona Living Landscape & Design we can help you design, plan, and build your new fire pit to meet your needs and work within your desert landscape design.
Outdoor Fire Pit Type
There are several types of outdoor fire pits you can install. We custom build gas, propane, or wood burning fire pits. Gas or propane is the easiest and cleanest type of pit if you have gas available at your house. These can be built with block and capped in any material you chose, such as pavers, travertine, concrete, stucco, flagstone or any other type of concrete cap you choose. The inside consists of a base and then topped with sand and glass or lava rock. The lava rock provides more heat while the sand and glass mixture looks very nice and can be customized with different colors of glass.
Gas Fire Pits Pros and Cons
- Cleaner
- No messy wood to deal with
- Easy to light
- Easy to extinguish
- Requires a gas line or propane tank
Wood burning fire pits are built essentially the same as the gas pits with the exception of additives so the block and mortar can handle the heat of a wood burning fire. These tend to be a little less expensive and provide a lot more heat. We can cap them in the same material as the gas pits. Due to the heat of a wood burning fire pit you should not use any gas or lighter fluid to ignite it and let the fire slowly build up the heat.
Wood Burning Fire Pits Pros and Cons
- Provides more heat
- Homey, natural feel
- Can be used for other things in the off time
- Needs to be cleaned
- Need to purchase and store wood
Outdoor Fire Pit Location
The location of your outdoor fire pit is very important. Due to the heat and smoke of a wood burning pit you want to make sure it is away from the house enough so you do not get smoke or flames in the house. Gas or propane pits can be situated closer and under a lattice cover if desired. You will want to make sure the is proper room around the fire pit for seating and enjoyment and keep it away from flammable items and hanging plants.
Outdoor Fire Pit Shape
The shape of your new fire pit can be anything you want depending on location and space. We have built them round, 6 sided, rectangular, square, the shape of an eye, and the letter “D”. We have designed small intimate fire pits, and large enough to accommodate a large group of people. You are only limited by your imagination. The sides of your new fire pit can be stucco to match your house or we can use stacked stone or cultured stone to give it a completely different look.
Check out our fire pit page for images of backyard fire pits we have installed in Mesa, Queen Creek, Chandler, San Tan Valley, Gilbert, SE Tempe, and Florence, AZ.
Call Arizona Living Landscape and Design today for a free consultation and quote on your new backyard fire pit. 480-390-4477