- 1). Contact your local zoning board to acquire any permits that you will need and to learn your local building codes regarding fire pits.
- 2). Decide where to place your fire pit and how large it will be. Follow local building codes and use common sense. For instance, don't build the fire pit next to a wooden structure like a shed or beneath low-hanging electric or phone lines.
- 3). Drive a stake in the middle of the ground where the fire pit will go. Attach a string to the stake, and a spray paint can to the other end of the string. Cut the string so that it is half the diameter of the fire pit (so if your fire pit is 4 feet across, cut the string 2 feet long).
- 4). Walk around the perimeter of the fire pit, spraying the ground with the spray paint to mark the circle for the fire pit.
- 5). Take the stake out of the ground and dig a 12-inch deep hole inside the marked-off area.
- 6). Fill the hole with 6 inches of gravel and smooth it out with a rake.
- 7). Add a layer of sand 6 inches deep on top of the gravel. Rake the sand smooth, then tamp it down to compact it.
- 8). Begin to lay the fieldstone around the perimeter of the pit. Fill in the gaps between the stones and the tops of the stones with mortar, then lay the next course of stone. Stagger each row of stones in order to improve the strength of the fire pit's wall. Wipe off any excess mortar from the front of the stones, and use a chipping hammer to shape the stones if needed. Build the wall 8 to 12 inches high, unless your building codes require you to build higher. In that case, refer to them.
- 9). Allow the mortar to set for 3 to 4 days.