How to Build a Fire Pit with a Ring Kit
Construct a durable outdoor stone fire pit using trapezoidal wall blocks, a crushed gravel base, and a drop-in steel insert ring for safe backyard fires.
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🧰 Required Tools & Equipment
- ✓ Square transfer shovel
- ✓ Hand tamper
- ✓ Torpedo level or 2-foot level
- ✓ Rubber mallet
- ✓ Caulking gun
- ✓ Tape measure
📦 Materials & Supplies
- ✓ Steel fire pit ring insert kit
- ✓ Trapezoidal fire pit wall blocks
- ✓ Crushed paver base gravel
- ✓ Exterior concrete landscape adhesive
- ✓ Lava rock or washed drainage gravel
⚠️ Safety Checkpoints & Warnings
- • Ensure site is at least 10-25 feet away from all buildings, fences, dry brush, and low-hanging tree branches.
- • Call 811 or local utility locator service before digging to verify no buried gas, power, or water lines.
- • Wear heavy work gloves and safety glasses when handling rough concrete blocks and gravel.
📋 Step-by-Step Guide (5 Steps)
Mark and Excavate the Base
Lay the steel ring on the grass at your chosen location and mark a circle roughly 6 inches wider than the ring using marking paint or a shovel edge. Remove the ring and dig out the grass and soil within the circle to a depth of 6 inches. Scrape the bottom flat and remove any loose roots or large stones.
- • A circular trench carved into the lawn with vertical earthen sidewalls.
- • Flat, bare dirt base cleared of grass clumps and loose debris.
- • Digging the circle too narrow, leaving no room for the outer retaining wall blocks.
- • Creating a sloped or dished trench floor.
Fill and Tamp the Gravel Base
Pour crushed paver base into the excavated trench to a depth of roughly 3 to 4 inches. Spread the gravel evenly across the circle using the back of a shovel or rake. Compact the entire base thoroughly with a hand tamper until the surface is firm and does not depress when stepped on.
- • A tightly packed, gray-stone gravel bed recessed 2 inches below the lawn surface.
- • Level tool reading flat across multiple diameters of the gravel pad.
- • Under-compacting the gravel, causing blocks to sink or tilt later.
- • Leaving loose, dry gravel pockets along the trench edges.
Lay and Level the First Block Course
Place the first trapezoidal block on the gravel base and verify it is level both front-to-back and side-to-side. Set adjoining blocks tightly together in a circle, tapping high edges gently with a rubber mallet until every stone sits flush and level with its neighbors. Temporarily drop the steel ring inside to verify circumference and fit before proceeding.
- • Complete, tightly-butted circular ring of blocks sitting half-submerged in the trench.
- • Level bubble centered when spanning any two adjacent blocks.
- • Steel ring drops smoothly inside the stone circle with even clearance.
- • Rushing past a slightly unlevel block, compounding alignment errors on higher tiers.
- • Making the stone circle too tight, preventing the metal ring insert from dropping in.
Stack Remaining Block Courses with Adhesive
Apply two continuous beads of landscape block adhesive to the top of the first ring of stones. Set the second course of blocks, staggering the vertical joints over the centers of the bottom blocks like brickwork. Repeat adhesive application and staggered block placement for the third and fourth tiers, checking level frequently.
- • Multi-tier stone cylinder standing 3 to 4 courses high with overlapping brick patterns.
- • Neat adhesive lines hidden entirely inside the horizontal joints with no squeeze-out on outer faces.
- • Stacking joints directly on top of each other, creating weak vertical fracture lines.
- • Using standard construction adhesive that breaks down under fire heat instead of masonry/landscape block adhesive.
Install Steel Ring and Interior Drainage Rock
Lower the steel insert ring into the center of the pit so its upper rim flange rests flat on the top tier of stones. Pour 2 to 3 inches of lava rock or drainage gravel into the bottom interior of the pit inside the ring. Spread the stone evenly to protect the underlying base, allow rainwater drainage, and support airflow.
- • Steel ring sits flush on top of the block rim without rocking.
- • Pit interior floor is covered with a 2-3 inch level layer of lava rock or gravel.
- • Using river rocks or limestone in the bottom that can trap moisture and crack/explode under high heat.
- • Letting the steel ring rest cockeyed on high glue spots.
Credit: inspired by an original tutorial by Lowe's Home Improvement — watch the original on YouTube.
Don’t have everything?
- No Hand tamper? End of a heavy 4x4 lumber post
- No Caulking gun? Squeeze-tube landscape block adhesive
- No Marking paint? Flour sprinkled from a cup or shovel edge score lines