Ashley Woods
We’re sharing our experience building a floating deck & fire pit, a quite simple project if you’ve got a little extra space in your backyard! The reality is that little Cadáin sleeps great at night, which is a huge blessing, and is generally a delightful chap in the mornings.
As with all of our children, colic sets in around 2-3 months, and for that brief time period (which is now), the day is pretty much shot from 3 PM onwards.
But any parent who deals with colicky babies is lying if they don’t admit that you begin to lose your mind just a little bit every afternoon as your tiny master descends into his or her daily bout with temporary insanity.
Her vision for our little suburban yard included an extension of the deck over some grass we really didn’t use, and the addition of a traditional brick fire pit. She wanted a spot that could be used for the occasional family gathering during the late summer evenings we have here in the Pacific Northwest, making s’mores around the campfire at 9 or 10 PM.
My goal here is not to instruct you on every aspect of how to execute a similar project, but merely to share my experiences, what seemed to work well and what didn’t, what resources I found helpful, what I would do differently, and so on, in an effort to make your experience better and easier should you embark on a project of your own! For some reason, inflation soaring, lumber prices in the stratosphere, baby number five just weeks away, I decided this was the year we should get that done.
For some reason, inflation soaring, lumber prices in the stratosphere, baby number five just weeks away, I decided this was the year we should get that done. Our little neighborhood is built on old farmland, and most of the houses are on artificially raised mounds of clay and rock. The good news was that I, a deeply, disturbingly, disproportionately sweaty person, didn’t have much of a chance to sweat in the midst of the never-ending deluge that was this past May. Even though the beams would be resting on pavers and never actually contact the ground, I still wanted to be sure they wouldn’t rot.
Even though the beams would be resting on pavers and never actually contact the ground, I still wanted to be sure they wouldn’t rot. I wasn’t worried about running beams both directions – the deck boards would add that stability. That said, I did take some time to measure out a square in the middle that would accommodate the fire pit size I had chosen – three feet across. I purchased a galvanized steel frame on Amazon that would fit the purpose, and then left enough margin to be able to lay bricks around it.
With the lava rock in place, I put the steel ring back, and then laid two layers of the stone around it. I didn’t cement the stone in at this point, but I wanted it sitting there to guide me as I built the deck surface around it.
This created an extremely strong, rigid structure that stayed square while distributing weight evenly across the underlying beams. I would have to seal it before winter set in, of course, but we used the deck and fire pit all summer as it was, bare pressure-treated wood and stone.
The galvanized ring and lava rock held up brilliantly to numerous camp fires, untold hotdogs, and myriad s’mores. Because of the galvanized steel ring on the inside, the stone on the outside never really got particularly warm, a real boon for families like ours with little ones running around.
Chels has insisted on bistro lights for the fence line, so between those, the lighting we already had on the deck itself, and the solar-powered LED lanterns I found on Amazon, I’ll admit the night brings a fairly picturesque scene to our humble suburban backyard. This extension brings the total deck area to almost 500 square feet, which is certainly plenty of space to grill, entertain…or make s’mores and read a book.
As is typical, I suppose, we’ve covered the entire space with white Adirondack chairs. They’re quite perfect for sipping freshly brewed coffee and reading Proverbs, and they’re equally attuned to savoring brisket and reminiscing. We consumed smoked blackberry cobblers and Reese’s peanut butter cup s’mores.
