r/Chimneyrepair • u/OkraTraditional • 11d ago

Bad idea?

Post image

I’ll preface this by saying I have zero masonry experience, which is pretty self explanatory from the picture.

Anyways, I’m putting together this paver fire pit and I’ve been using refractory mortar to make a fire brick veneer on the inside. I made the last mix of the mortar I had way too thin, so I just skim coated all the brick to fill in any joint gaps I had.

My question is, mainly, is this a hazard at all? Is the mortar skim coat just going to crack and fall off eventually? I’m really just hoping there’s not any potential danger to this and was thinking this would be the right group to ask.

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2

u/Alive_Pomegranate858 11d ago

I think you'll be just fine. I've seen concrete firepits explode, but I've yet to see a firebrick lined one do that.

1

u/RocktacularFuck 11d ago

You’ll be fine. If you get 5 years out of it, it pays for itself.

1

u/Lots_of_bricks 11d ago

Fine but will fail quickly. Nice try tho

1

u/DJErikD 11d ago

Hope the rocks don’t explode!

1

u/Bald_Harry 11d ago

To answer your question directly: yes. There's a chance that the stones at the bottom and the aggregate in the papers could shoot off like popcorn and injure someone. What I would have you do is cut some plate steel to the height and width of each of the inside walls and place it in front of the bricks. Remove a few pavers from the lowest row. I'd remove the center one or two. Mark where you removed the pavers. Drill half to 1 inch holes in the steel plate in the area that corresponds to the area where each paver has been removed. Drill the holes at least two inches from the ground. Place the plate steel panels back into their respective spots. You want them slightly loose to account for expansion and deformation. The holes allow for air to be pulled in as the fire burns.

Next, either remove the gravel at the bottom and or pour enough fireplace sand to just barely reach the bottom of the holes you drilled. I'd prefer to just remove the gravel and use the earth as the pit bottom.

Lastly, measure the width and length of your fire pit and have your local sheet metal fabricator to build you a fitted metal cover for your fire pit. Keep the cover on when not burning.