Landscaping: need seating area for fire pit

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enidcandles Enid, OK November 01, 2009 07:06 PM	I need to create a seating area around my fire pit. My lawn is quite soft and the chairs sink in the ground when you sit on them. This is just not gonna work. I need a really, really cheap solution. We move our chairs around a lot depending on smoke, heat of fire...so it has to go all the way around the pit and at least 8' back.
shrubbs Beavertown, PA (Zone 5b) November 02, 2009 06:14 PM	You can use irregular flagstone (sometimes called broken standing) and piece together a puzzle around the fire pit. or You can install a nice stone (or brick) border about 9' out from the edge of the fire pit; dig out an area about 6" deep between the edge of the fire pit and the edge of the stone border; fill it in with 4-5" 2B stone; tamp it (a gas powered plate tamper should work); fill in the remaining 1-2" with WBC sand (also called screenings or cracker dust); and tamp it. The screenings are soft at first, but then form a nice solid base (unless you have chairs with little bases on each leg). or You can install boulders as benches at different distances from the fire pit (between 7-9' away for the edge) and leave room for folding chairs. or You can make benches out of native cedar. Set some posts in the ground and carve out a curved area for the long to sit in. All you have to do is lay the log in. You can toenail the log in place or just let it sit there. The only problem is that you are stuck in the same spot all of the time, but just make sure the fire has lots of oxygen so it gets nice and hot. Just some ideas. I have more, but they would cost a fortune.
enidcandles Enid, OK November 02, 2009 07:48 PM	thanks bunches - do u buy the irregular flagstone at the same place you get regular flagstone or does it come from somewhere else? I know flagstone is high here but have never check on the irregular. I am on an extemely limited budget right now or would love to hear some of your other ideas.
shrubbs Beavertown, PA (Zone 5b) November 05, 2009 09:45 AM	Typically most stone retailers would carry the irregular flagstone and unfortunately it can be costly for such a large area. The other ideas are deck systems and patio systems so they would definitely be out of the budget you seem to be working with. I do some research and see if I can find out any more types of materials. The 2B stone and screenings with the border is going to probably be you least expensive, but will take the longest to install. The only idea I can come up with is to change your focus. Right now we are looking at the ground the chairs sit on. We could reverse that and look at the chairs that are sitting on the ground. You could purchase a different type of chair that would not sink in the ground - or - you could fabricate a wide base that could attach to the bottom of your existing chairs so that they do not sink in the soil (kind of like snow shoes, but for the chairs).
enidcandles Enid, OK November 05, 2009 01:04 PM	I would have never thought of that. What a practicle and affordable solution. Now how to build shoes for a chair?? Bet I can come up with something. Thanks - you are the best!!
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 05, 2009 01:13 PM	Concrete pavers and gravel would be fairly cost effective, as would small river rock. You would need some sort of edging material (black plastic bed edging would work), landscape weed block fabric, and gravel and/or concrete pavers.
themoonhowl Prairieville, LA (Zone 9a) November 05, 2009 01:18 PM	You could use small plastic yogurt containers or butter tubs, slipped over the legs of the chairs, and if so desired, filled with plaster of paris or quickcrete to keep the chair legs from sinking.
enidcandles Enid, OK November 05, 2009 01:21 PM	Perfect moon!! How smart you are. Little tubs it is! That will keep the chairs from blowing over in our wonderful Oklahoma wind too.
smileymom343 Kenmore, NY (Zone 6a) November 05, 2009 01:26 PM	One year when my kids were in grammar school they asked everyone to bring in tennis balls for the bottom of the chairs so they wouldn't scrape on the floors when the kids moved them.
enidcandles Enid, OK November 05, 2009 01:31 PM	you know, tennis balls just might do the trick as well. I may give that a try first
shrubbs Beavertown, PA (Zone 5b) November 05, 2009 03:06 PM	Be careful using anything round. These will sink in the lawn, just slower. Make sure that the surface area of this foundation is 4x the size of your leg base (this is a good number to start with). Lets say the base of one of your chair legs is 1"x1" - you would want to use a piece of wood (if you use wood) that is 4"x4". If you had 2" you would want an 8" base. The larger the base of the leg then you start getting into larger bases or the leg is big enough that is won't sink. Definitely remember this - the quicker something is put together the more problems you could possibly have in the future. I would experiment with a couple ideas if you are planning to do everything yourself.

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