DIY Fire Pit Patio

As you saw in my last blog post I built an awesome raised concrete garden bed in my backyard. Now, it is time to show you the full DIY fire pit patio makeover I did in my backyard!

Picking Up Where We Left Off

To start this DIY Fire Pit Patio, I built a raised concrete garden bed. As you saw in my last blog post, I was having some trouble with coating the planter that I built. I planned to use a leftover product I had on hand that was meant to resurface horizontal concrete surfaces, but it was too thin. To apply this, I poured it from a cup and spread it with a squeegee. My daughter wanted to help with this part, so we did it together. I liked the color of this when it dried, so I decided that I would move forward. After adding my plants, I realized that it bothered me that you could still see the seams of the block. This happened because the concrete coating was so thin. I decided that I would think it over while I moved on to the landscape rock.

Placing Rock for my DIY Fire Pit Patio

I began by placing large pavers in the center of my space. These will be used as a flat base for my fire pit to sit on. Once they are leveled out, I am laying out a geogrid so I can dump my rocks into it. I got this grid to prevent the rocks from moving around as they get walked on. I got yard rock from a local landscaping supplier; the rock is called “fort dodge white.” Once I got them to my house in a trailer, we spread them out. The diameter of this rock is 1-2 inches. No matter how high I pile them, they are not compact enough to cover the geogrid. I decided to ditch the geogrid and add edging because the rock is big enough to not travel out of place.

Break to Focus on the Planter Again

At this point, I am going back to the concrete planter to coat it in concrete another time. This time, the product I am using is thicker and made for vertical surfaces. Unfortunately, I did not notice that this product was fiber-reinforced. I was not experienced enough to lay this without fiberglass sticking up all over the wall, looking fuzzy. In addition, I ran out of material and had to mix more. This created a seam that I needed to cover with yet another coat of product. At this point, I tried so many different ways to get rid of this fuzzy look, but none of them worked and I was left with a very rough finish. This has caused me so much frustration. I re-coated the planter a FOURTH time!! The color looked very dark and uneven, so I was STILL not satisfied.

After a lot of consideration, I decided to re-coat the raised concrete planter one more time. I used Surecrete wall spray for this coating. I chose to squeegee it on to the planter to get the very smooth texture I wanted. When it dried, I was delighted to see that the color matched the pavers I placed in the center of the DIY fire pit patio!

Building the Benches

Now, it is time to build the big benches that will be the seating in front of the concrete garden bed. I bought twelve green-treated 2x4s and let them dry for a week before building. Once they are sufficiently dry, I am gluing and screwing them together in sets of three, trying to force out any warping. Next, I am gluing the sets of three together and clamping. I am driving super long lag screws in every so often so that each set of three was connected by screws. I was careful to plan my hardware so nothing would be visible on the front faces of the bench. This design utilizes the edge of the 2x4s as the top of the bench because it is a lot stronger in this orientation than if the boards were laid flat.

To get that edge as flat as possible, I did so many hours of hand planning and sanding. I used my belt sander with 40-grit sandpaper, then 80 grit. Then, I used my planer to create a chamfer on the front edge and smoothed it with my belt sander. I then fixed any visible imperfections with stainable wood filler, when it was dry, I did a final pass with my random orbital sander and 120-grit sandpaper. To clean up the ends of my benches and make them square, I used my circular saw. Unfortunately, the bench was way too heavy and large to use my miter or table saw. Because of this I had to make do with a blade that did not go all the way through the lumber. I lined it up and cut it as flush as I could, then sanded the end smooth.

Finishing the Bench for the DIY Fire Pit Patio

When my moisture meter signaled that my wood was dry enough, I applied an oil-based stain and sealer in one. I used the same stain that I used on the treehouse that I built, so my backyard looks uniform! For the legs on these benches, I am going to repurpose the legs made of flat bar steel from my end tables. My sister and I welded these ourselves 8 years ago; they are super heavy-duty, so I think they will work for this project! I drilled holes in the steel for screws to go through into the bottom of my bench.

I was so excited to get these benches into place that I made my assistant Kate help me with it when she came over! They felt stable on the rocks and sturdy to sit on, but the corner of my planter was not a perfect 90-degree angle. I had some scribing to do. In order to connect the two benches in the corner where they meet, I drilled pocket holes for keg screws to go in at an angle hidden underneath. I also decided to cut and stain another piece to cap off the visible ends so it looks a little more custom! I moved the finished benches back in place and leveled them by adjusting the rocks below the steel legs. Finally I went underneath and screwed them together utilizing the pocket holes I drilled!

The Finished DIY Fire Pit Patio

After a month and a half, I have a total oasis in my backyard! I sourced black polywood Adirondack chairs and the smokeless fire pit online. In addition, I draped solar-powered string lights along the fence to add to the ambiance! This project was much more fun to design than to build, but even with my struggles finishing the planter and the geogrid not working out, I am so glad I did this. I love that this corner makes a destination out of an area that was forgotten and unused before! The design is amazing – the concrete planter serves as a backrest for the bench and the bench is so smooth and comfortable after all that sanding! I feel like this luxury look was so worth how much it cost, especially for the huge benches!

I hope you loved following along as I built this DIY fire pit patio! If you want to check out more of my outdoor projects, my blog post Build a Retaining Wall in One Day is a great place to start!