Nobody leaves a fire early
A fire feature is the one thing you can add to a yard that changes the calendar. It buys you October and most of November, it gets the teenagers to sit down, and it is where people end up on a summer night once the plates are cleared.
We have been building custom fire pits and outdoor fireplaces in St. Louis since 2001. Ours are masonry, built in place, sized to the seating around them. The same team draws it and builds it, so the fire feature, the patio under it and the walls around it arrive as one piece of work instead of three.
Fire pit and fireplace benefits
Of everything we build, a backyard fire feature returns the most use per dollar. It gives a patio a center, it works in three seasons instead of one, and it reads as permanent from the house. If you are already thinking about your patio design, this is the piece to plan in from the start rather than add later.
It extends the season
A patio without fire is a summer patio. With it you are outside through fall, and on clear winter nights too.
It gives the space a center
Seating needs something to face. Fire is the most reliable anchor there is, and everything else arranges itself around it.
People actually gather
Phones go down. Conversations run longer. It is the closest thing to a guarantee in this work.
It holds its value
Built masonry reads as part of the house to a buyer, and you get the use of it in the meantime.
Eight ways to put fire in a yard
Which one is right depends on how much room you have, how you want to sit, and whether you want to tend a fire or turn one on.
Wood-Burning Fire Pit
The real thing. Smoke, sparks, and the reason people sit for hours.
Gas Fire Pit
On in a second, off when you go in. No hauling, no cleanup.
Outdoor Fireplace
Vertical mass and a mantle. It gives the patio a wall and a focal point at once.
Fire Table
Dining height, so you can eat and keep the flame going.
Gas Fire Bowls
Paired on either side of steps or a pool edge. Light, not heat.
Chimney Fireplace
A full chase, drafted properly, for a covered patio or a wind-exposed yard.
Seating Walls
Built-in stone seating around the fire, so you never run out of chairs.
Sunken Fire Lounge
Dropped a step or two below grade, walled and sheltered. The most private of the eight.
Custom design options
Natural stone reads oldest and settles into a garden best. Brick ties a feature to a traditional house. Smooth-face block and steel go the other direction, clean and rectilinear, for a modern yard. The firebox and the surround are separate decisions, so a modern pit can sit in a stone patio without the two arguing.
Then there is everything around it. Seating walls double the capacity of a small patio. A wood box built into the surround means you are not walking to the garage mid-evening. And outdoor lighting is what makes the rest of the yard exist once the fire is the brightest thing in it. We plan all of it in the first drawing, even when it gets built in phases.
Wood or gas
This is the question that decides how often you use it, and the honest answer is that it depends entirely on you. Here is how we talk it through.
Wood-burning
If the fire is the event
Real flame, real heat, and the smell that makes people stay. You get a taller fire and a wider circle of warmth than any burner produces. It costs less to build because there is no gas line to run.
In exchange you stack wood, you wait fifteen minutes, and you deal with ash. Some municipalities have burn rules and setback requirements worth knowing before you commit. Choose wood if tending the fire is part of what you want.
Gas
If the fire is the setting
On in a second, off when you walk inside. No smoke in anyone's eyes, no ash, nothing to clean. That convenience is why gas features get used on a random Tuesday and wood ones often do not.
It costs more up front because the line has to be run and connected, and the flame is shorter and gives off less heat. Choose gas if you want fire without a project attached to it.
If you cannot decide, we build a fair number of wood pits with a gas starter line. You light it in thirty seconds and still burn real wood, which for most families is the right compromise.
Our design-build process
Four steps, and you know the number and the schedule before anything is torn up. Most fire pit installation projects in St. Louis run one to two weeks on site, less if the patio is already there. Where a fire feature sits next to an outdoor kitchen, we build both at once so the masonry matches and the patio only gets opened up once.
Consultation
We walk the yard, talk about how you would use it and how many people you want seated.
Custom fire pit design
Drawn in 3D, sized to the seating, with the stone chosen and a real number attached to the scope.
Installation
Footing, firebox, and the stone on top. Our own crews, one coordinator, and the gas line and permits handled as part of the job.
First fire
We walk through how to run it safely, and tell you what to expect in the first season.
What people ask before they start
A pit on an existing patio is usually three to five days. A full outdoor fireplace with a chase is one to two weeks. Add a few days if a gas line has to be run from the house, and more if the patio around it is being built at the same time.
That depends on your municipality, and the rules vary more than people expect across St. Louis County. There are setbacks from structures, property lines and overhanging branches. We check yours before we draw anything, and we handle the permit where one is required.
Yes, and we do it often. Masonry is heavy, so we look at what is under the surface first. Sometimes we cut in a proper footing and reset the surrounding pavers, which is a day of extra work and the difference between a feature that stays level and one that does not.
Figure on about three feet of clearance between the edge of the feature and where chairs sit, and enough beyond that for someone to walk behind them. A pit that seats six comfortably needs more patio than most people picture, which is exactly why we draw it first.
Clear the ash from a wood feature, cover a gas burner over winter, and keep the joints pointed. Have a chimney inspected every couple of years if you have a full fireplace. Our care programs cover the cleaning if you would rather not think about it.
Different, not better. A pit seats people all the way around and suits a group. A fireplace throws heat in one direction, blocks wind, and gives the patio architecture. If your yard is exposed or you want a wall between you and the neighbors, the fireplace earns its cost.
Built at the same time, for less
Already built out and just want it taken care of?
See the maintenance plans →A refined, no-pressure experience
Gather around the fire. One feature, and the yard works nine months a year instead of four. Start with a walk of the property. We will talk through wood or gas, the stone, and the number before you decide anything.