When it comes to enjoying the outdoors, few things are as enjoyable as gathering around a warm fire pit on a cool evening. But if you have a wooden patio, you need to be careful when using a fire pit – not only can they damage your patio, but they can also be dangerous.
There are several ways to protect your patio from fire pit damage, and in this post, we will evaluate some of the more effective ways. We’ll also provide tips on how to sit your fire pit safely on different types of patios. So, whether you’re just starting a fire pit or using one for years, read for some helpful advice!
What Kind Of Pavers Should I Use For A Fire Pit?
Fire pits are a wonderful feature of your patio. Fire pits are the best option for enjoying a relaxing evening or bringing a soothing aura to your lawn. Homeowners commonly wonder about how to protect the patio from the fire pit. To begin understanding the process, we should learn about the types of pavers for a fire pit.
First, let’s know what kind of pavers are the best for using a fire pit. Homeowners can use a fire pit on a patio paver. However, an essential element to keep in mind is that the pavers must be porous and fire-resistant. Otherwise, building a fire pit on the paver can permanently damage it. Make sure to know all about fire pits beforehand!
In case you are wondering- can I build a fire pit on my pre-existing installation? The simple answer is, yes, you can. You must check that the pavers are porous and fire-resistant as well. If you ensure these features, you can safely build a fire pit on top of the pre-installation.
But if they are not fire-resistant, you will need to remove some pavers to expose the ground under them. This way, you can build your fire pit around the paver. Simultaneously, you can also use brick pavers to construct a brick fire pit.
The most recommended brick for this purpose is the Kiln-fired brick. These bricks are fired to 1800º Fahrenheit. Hence, they can easily withstand the flame heat from your fire pit.
You can also use the kin-fired landscaping brick for a fire pit. They will get you outstanding results. Likewise, brick paver stones are also completely safe to use for your fire pits. With these pavers, you can build temporary and permanent fire pits to use in your home.
To sum up, the pavers around the fire pit should be both fireproof and porous. For portable fire pits, you can use fire-resistant stands. Remember to use heat shields or fire-radiant mats to ensure extra safety for your home.
Five Important Tips To Protect Your Patio From A Fire Pit
The extra safety checks can always come in handy for fire pit owners. Especially if you are newly learning how to protect your patio from a fire pit, then we have covered you. There are multiple tips and tricks to ensure thorough safety and protection for your patios. Some information to protect your patio from a fire pit is as follows.
Using Spark Screens
A spark screen is among the most effective tools available to protect your patios from fire damage. Fire pits often have flying sparks and embers that come out of the pit. These sparks can fall on the ground or tools nearby and may cause serious safety hazards and accidents.
To prevent that, spark screens provide additional protection against flying sparks and embers.
A spark shield over your fire pit may reduce the risk of embers flying and catching fire.
Spark screens often come with poker tools. With poker tools, you can control the logs and the flame better. This is an essential tool for outdoor fire pits. So, make sure to invest in spark screens to protect your patio.
Getting Protective Surfaces
Another essential tip to protect your patio is to get protective surfaces. Moreover, it will also protect the floor of your patio from heat damage from the fire pit. Protective materials for the fire pit include fire pit pads, heat shields, fire rings, etc.
Fire pit pads are vital for free-standing fire pits. These mats provide a thermal barrier so that the heat from the pit or flying embers does not damage the floor.
Similarly, heat shields are remarkable for providing such protection. A heat shield under the fire pit shields the patio surface from enduring heat damage. Hence, it is vital to get protective surfaces for the fire pit.
Providing Additional Layers Underneath
Experts recommend providing additional layers under your fire pit to get more security and protect your patio floors.
- Pour a couple of inches of sand at the bottom of the fire pit.
- Place the sand before you light the fire pit.
- Sand absorbs a lot of fire pit heat in a small volume.
As a result, the sand layer acts as a shield to protect the patio floor from heat and flames. Especially in the case of a wood deck, the additional sand layer will be essential for protecting the patio.
Providing the additional layer of sand will also prolong the effectiveness of the heat shields, fire pit pads, etc. Similarly, lava rocks for propane fire pits are also effective. That is why you must use additional layers to protect your patio.
Maintaining The Appropriate Location
Maintaining an appropriate location is crucial to protect your patio and ensure your overall safety. This is also applicable to portable fire pits. You must place them away from flammable items or congested spaces packed with household objects.
Setting an appropriate location for outdoor fire pits is necessary to protect your patios.
The general guidelines tell you to keep the fire pit at least 20-25 feet away from your house. Generally, fire pits need a clearance of 3 feet on each of their sides. At the same time, the space above the fire pit should have a clearance of 6 feet. This will be an appropriate location for the fire pit.
Ensure the place is not too windy so that embers fly outside. At the same time, check that the wooden deck has an awning to be appropriate for setting your fire pit in.
Lastly, ensure that there are appropriate ventilation means around your fire pit.
Protecting Your Grass Patio
Protecting your grass patio from a fire pit can be a big challenge. The grass will die under a fire pit with approximately 1,400° Fahrenheit heat. The phenomenon that causes this is known as heat stress.
So you must safeguard your grassland patio. Use any of the following materials as a surface.
- Brick
- Paver
- Sand
- Heat-proof mat.(fire-resistant heat pads)
Remember to never put a fire pit directly on the grass. This will result in high combustion and lead to an accident.
Laying sand or volcanic stones around surfaces on your patio near the fire pit to shield grass and plants. This is also an excellent spark barrier to safeguard your patio surroundings.
Can Fire Pit Damage Concrete Patio?
In case you are wondering whether a fire pit will damage your concrete patio or not, we have news for you. Yes, a fire pit can damage the concrete patio. Although the process is slow, the intense fire pit heat will damage your concrete patio as time progresses.
Luckily, there are means you can protect your concrete patio from the fire pit. One advantage of having concrete patios is that they are 100 percent non-flammable. That means your concrete patios will not catch fire from the pit.
This would be impossible for wood decks, wooden patios, grass patios, etc. However, the concrete may expand from the heat of the fire pit. Thus, their structures may damage when they contract again.
Similarly, when you light a fire pit, the temperature may reach 2,000° Fahrenheit. This is intense heat for the concrete patio. Such a degree of heat will cause the concrete to dehydrate. As a result, the patio will break into small pieces. This is also known as spalling.
Additionally, if the concrete has other materials like limestone, it will break down completely. So, your concrete patio will also crack as a consequence of that.
Therefore, having a fire pit directly on the surface of your concrete patio will cause damage and breakage. You must implement steps to protect your concrete patio from the fire pit.
How to Protect the Concrete Patio From Fire Pit?
Now that you are wondering- how I save my concrete patio from the fire pit, there is no need to look further. You can perform various steps to protect your concrete patio from fire damage allowing you to enjoy the beautiful aura of a fire pit on your patio or lawn.
Some ways you can protect the concrete patio from the fire pit are as follows.
Building Pavers Between Concrete And Fire Pit
Concrete patios do not catch fire. But the heat from the fire pit can cause severe damage to them. To eliminate the risk of such damage, build pavers between the concrete patio and the fire pit.
Adding the pavers in between will act like an insulator. As a result, the pavers will disrupt the heat to penetrate your concrete patios.
Likewise, using pavers between the patio and the fire pit will lower the intensity of heat on the concrete. So, even if the heat reaches the patio, the intensity will not be as high as before. This will block the concrete from expanding due to heat.
Other minerals or materials present in the concrete will not break down either. Thus, you will be able to protect your concrete patio.
Keeping The Fire Pit Above Ground
It is a general rule for all fire pits to maintain a safe distance from the ground. You must place the fire feet safely above the ground, regardless of a concrete or wooden patio.
The general rule is to place the fire pit at least 30 inches above the ground. To be effective, you must construct the fire pit with heat-resistant materials like cast iron or steel.
When you keep the fire pit safely above the ground, you ensure that the heat does not come in immediate contact with the concrete patio.
As a result, you can reduce the risk of fire damage from your concrete patios. So, make sure to have a 30 inches clearance under your fire pit, so there is no direct contact.
Using Fireproof Mats
Heat-resistant mats are always handy to protect your patio or the nearby surface of the fire pit. This is effective for both portable and permanent fire pits. Like other patio types, fireproof mats are beneficial to protect your concrete patios.
Using fireproof mats will protect the concrete foundation from fire damage. So the patio will not spall or break apart.
Fireproof mats are helpful to keep the heat in check, even if your fire pit creates high heat levels.
The fireproof mat will act as a barrier to direct heat contact. Therefore, using fireproof mats is a simple and easy way for homeowners to protect their concrete patios.
Protecting Your Wooden Decks From Fire Pit
Contrary to concrete patios, wooden decks are highly flammable. They are most likely to catch fire from the fire pit. So, if you have a fire pit on your wooden decks, you must be extra careful to protect them.
The superb news is that you can protect your wooden decks from fire damage with the proper attention and techniques.
- The first step that you need to carry out is using a fireproof base. This includes using fireproof or heat-radiant mats at the bottom of your fire pit. You can use fire pit pads, heat pads, etc. (You must always use a protective base under your fire pit on a wooden deck. Otherwise, the wood deck can easily catch fire and burn thereby.)
- You will also need to provide protective layers under a fire pit on wood. Use a fine layer of sand underneath your fire pit. Sand is capable of holding the intense heat of the fire within just a tiny volume. So, it is an effective and inexpensive way to protect your wood decks from fire damage or combustion.
But if you are seeking a more permanent instrument for protection, landscaping tiles can be a great option.
You can provide permanent flooring with landscaping tiles to protect your wooden decks from the fire pit. These are 100 percent fire-resistant. They will not catch fire from the flying embers or sparks from the fire pit. You can also combine other heat-proof materials with your landscaping tiles.
Regardless of your patio, always place a fire-resistant mat underneath your fire pit. This will keep your patio surface safe from fire damage, catching fire, and other types of injury. Simultaneously, you can easily collect fire pit ash, dirt, or debris from the mat to clean the surface effectively.
To wrap up this post, kindly watch the Sunnydaze Decor channel for a rundown of the guidelines to adhere to and some practical suggestions for establishing a fire pit on a wooden patio.
Sunnydaze Decor. (2021, May 26). 5 Do’s & Don’ts When Using a Fire Pit on a Wood Deck – Bright Ideas: Episode 7 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgbaBkcSFJ4&t=5s
What Should I Sit My Fire Pit On?
We now know how you can protect your patio and wood decks from fire damage. To further assist the process, you should look for the best places to sit on your fire patio. If you are wondering- will concrete pavers explode in fire, the answer is yes, it might. You should put the fire pit on a safe and assisted surface.
The best places to sit on your fire patio is fire pit stands, fire ring, heat shield, cement pavers, lava rock pavers, etc. You can also use fireproof hard rocks like granite, slate, or marble to sit your fire pit on. Fire rings are the best option for round fire pit pavers.
In the case of portable fire pits, if you are wondering- what to put under a portable fire pit, fire-radiant mats can be an excellent option. Additionally, you can also use protective screens to ensure extra safety.
To answer the question- can you put a fire pit on porcelain tiles? Yes, you can. They are very durable to safeguard from fire damage.
However, implement all the safety guidelines on how to protect the patio from a fire pit. You can use the fire pit pavers kit to assist in sitting your fire pit on a suitable surface.
Lastly, always use fire pit pads for concrete regardless of where you sit your fire pit. Thus, in these ways, you can protect your patio from fire pit and heat damage.
Final Thoughts
Fire pits are a nice warm touch to any patio, but taking the appropriate steps to safeguard your patio from damage is essential.
Following this article’s advice can protect your patio from fire pit damage. These suggestions will also assist in prolonging the life of your patio.
Thank you for your time!
Sources of Information
Woodland Direct. (n.d.). Can I Put a Fire Pit on My Wood Deck? | Woodlanddirect.com. Www.Woodlanddirect.Com. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://www.woodlanddirect.com/best-surfaces-for-your-fire-pit.html
R. (2022, April 10). Can You Put a Fire Pit on a Paver Patio? A Simple Guide. JS Brick Pavers. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://jsbrickcorporation.com/can-you-put-a-fire-pit-on-a-paver-patio-a-simple-guide/
Patio, C. (2022, August 23). How Can I Make A Deck Protector Under A Fire Pit? – Clever Patio. Clever Patio – Clever Patio. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://www.cleverpatio.com/how-can-i-make-a-deck-protector-under-a-fire-pit/
R. (2022a, March 8). How Do I Protect My Concrete Patio from a Fire Pit in 4 Easy Ways. A Beautiful Yard Doesn’t Have to Be Hard. Retrieved August 30, 2022, from https://wemowdallas.com/how-do-i-protect-my-concrete-patio-from-a-fire-pit/
