Fire pit and seating
I have a fire pit (brought from a shop) but I wanted something with fixed seating around it.
As usual I was a tight arse and wanted to build it from pallets and wood already in the garden.
I wanted it dug in the ground as I think it look better and it helps with the wind.
Anyway the whole thing is made from pallets except the fire pit obviously, for this we brought the bricks for a grand total of £8 odd.
Because I have an inability to do anything normal I also added ponds with fountains and goldfish.
Now when I stumble out of Fubar (previous project) I can talk to the fishes before finding the house.
PS, Goldfish are good listeners and we both enjoy a drink.
fire pit and recycled pallet benches and seating
The finished seating and fire pit. It is exactly the right height. We were going to add cushions and padding but it very comfy as it is, so we have decided to leave it. I made a top for the fire pit to utilise this as a table when not practising my arson skills. Ponds added in the corner with fountains and goldfish.
clearing the area for pallet bench
Little path being made from firepit to pub
Little path being made from firepit to pub
Little path being made from firepit to pub
Measuring out the area for pallet seating and fire pit
Measuring out the area for pallet seating and fire pit
Clearing the bit of ground.
As you can see my garden slopes, this is one of the reasons we opted for a dug in fire pit and seating.
Notice the awesome helper there.
The wife removing nails from the pallet planks. We also added a decking/pallet path to cover the concrete path, 1 because it is sloped and I wanted to flatten this area out, 2 i hate concrete with a passion, 3 and here's the crux of it, I kept falling out the door from the bar when I misjudged the step down. The medication I take to relax has an effect on my judgement and balance.(BUDWEISER).
Planning out the area. Getting a feel for the size and placements of everything. See how much the ground slopes. I also used a spirit level all the way through this build as i didn't want the seating sloping to the side.
benches being made from pallets
best way to use recycled pallets is to make a seating area.
best way to use recycled pallets is to make a seating area.
Ground now kind of level.
We cut 2/3rds off of 3 large pallets and placed them in a U shape as pictured.
We the screwed the remaining 1/3 of the pallet to the seat bit to act as a back.
one bit of seat and back is one whole pallet. This can be done with any size pallets, the longer you want it the more pallets you add.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit
recycled pallet seating and fire pit
recycled pallet seating and fire pit
recycled pallet seating and fire pit
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
recycled pallet seating and fire pit. Ponds added on in the corners.
small concrete firepit
small concrete firepit
the cover for the fire pit turns it into a useful table
pallets benches, fire pit
pallets benches, fire pit
pallets benches, fire pit
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
finished seating, firepit and ponds made from recycled pallet wood.
Ponds made from pallets added to the seating area corners.
Ponds made from pallets added to the seating area corners.
We then pulled apart some more pallets and added 3 or 4 planks between the 2 that were already there, depending on the plank width. We also added 1 additional planks to the backs, for more comfort and for looks (If you use smaller pallets put the boards on staggered, like brick work, this will tie and strengthen all the smaller pallets together).
A butterfly came over to check it out, it said it is very comfortable, such a polite butterfly.
I love the sound of water in the garden and i had to dig up my 4 tiered pond and waterfall to put my mancave in. So I added them to the corners. This had the added bonus of tying all 3 benches together. We have the fountain on low so no splash is caused, just that nice watery sound.
How did I do this.
Well, seems as you asked, I shall tell you.
With off cut bits of pallets that we were going to burn. I cut 16 bits of pallets the same size (per pond), 4 per side, i then got 4 bits of baton and put this on the inside of each corner and screwed the 16 boards to it.
A very easy and quick box that takes no more than a hour to knock up.
I then put some 1mx1m pond liner in and filled it with water, this pushes the liner into place with no effort on my part, I then cut off the excess pond liner.
I wanted to add the top bit to conceal the pond liner and pump cables. This is 4 bits of board cut to the same length, I then cut the ends at 45 degrees and screwed them together, i used these offcuts to screw to the inside of the corners, as you can see in the picture, this strengthens them.
Next we built the fire pit from cheap grey blocks we got from B&Q. My brick work is atrocious but it will do for this. First I dug a very shallow foundation, just wide enough to take the bricks and about an inch deep, we then placed the blocks in the shallow trench with a small air gap at the sides, if you zoom in on the picture you will see the air gaps between the two bottom bricks. We couldn't find any tools or trowels so we scooped the concrete up with our hands and "plonked" it on top of the bricks and flattened it out with our hands, we then stuck the second layer of bricks on and shoved mortar in any gaps left, we also managed to knock the bricks off a few times as well.
When I say I am bad at brick work, my daughter helped me with the firepit and she was as bad as me. A case of the blind leading the blind here, but it works well so that's all that matters really. We then painted it with textured masonry paint..
My daughter was very proud of the wonky fire pit when we checked on it the next day.
Next I pulled the wood off of an old weak crappy small pallet. I made a rectangle frame slightly bigger than the firepit, the frame sits on the outside of the firepit, look at pictures to see what i mean. I then screwed the boards to the framed. 4 bits of baton and an old pallet and we have a table.
Because it hooks over the edge of the firepit it is extremely strong and stable, you can stand on it and jump if you get the urge too.
Then came quite a bit of sanding. Because people may sit on it whilst wearing shorts, i hope they will be wearing at least a loincloth anyway, we needed to sand all of it down.
First off we sanded and curved the front edge of the benches and removed all corners and sharp bits with the sander, we then sanded the seat area itself and sanded the edge of the seat to level out with the walkway next to it, this way the seats and walkway are exactly the same height.
After we sanded off all the 90 degree corner edges (this way no-one can even scratch themselves) we then applied a outdoor varnish to it.
It is now so smooth it feels like sitting on a cloud (that may be a slight exaggeration)
And then we threw in a few bags of 10mm gravel. Might be a better idea to use 20mm gravel as the cats like to shit in the 10mm but they don't shit in the 20mm.
This is it all finished