The Lowdown On Fire Pit Benches: Staying Comfy By The Fire
When you add a fire pit to your backyard, you’re adding much more than just a fire feature. A fire pit means spending time with friends and family looking in the great outdoors - without leaving the backyard. People will always need a comfortable place to sit and relax by the fire, but individual chairs (such as Adirondack chairs) can take up way too much space, especially in a smaller backyard or patio. A bench could be a great alternative for fireside comfort. In this article, we’ll cover some fire pit bench ideas, curved fire pit benches, log benches for fire pits, and how to make the most of your fire pit bench seating.
Can You Build A Do It Yourself Fire Pit Bench?
If you’re generally handy, you can absolutely build your own fire pit bench! If you have the patience and time, this is something that you can accomplish yourself in a day or a weekend depending on the complexity of the bench. Simple or complex, a bench will ensure everyone is comfortable around your fire pit.
How Far Should Benches Be From A Fire Pit?
When putting together the seating space around a fire pit, the most important thing to consider is safety. A fire in a properly built fire pit needs a buffer zone to ensure anything flammable in the vicinity (such as the home, a wooden bench, or clothing) won’t catch on fire. The buffer zone varies by the size and height of your fire pit and the height.
Landscape designers recommend that no flammable items including landscape features such as trees or shrubs are placed within a circle extending 7 feet from the edge of the fire pit. Within this space, you can include items made from steel, stone, glass, and fireproofed woods. Though this space may seem rather large, it can feel cozy because you’ll need space in front and behind your seating for people to move around.
The space between the edge of your fire pit and the edge of your benches depends on what kind of fire pit you have. A wood burning fire pit has a tendency to burn with a higher intensity, so it’s best to measure no less than 3 feet between the benches and the edge of the fire pit. A gas burning fire pit will be much more adjustable and produce a consistent flame, letting you build benches a little closer at around 2 feet.
What Should You Sit On Around A Fire Pit?
The seating you put around your fire pit can be made of practically any normal building material and supplemented with cushions to make the space just as comfortable as the living spaces indoors. While the cushions generally won’t be built into the structure of your fire pit benches, it’s a great idea to include storage underneath the seats for cushions, blankets, pillows, and even an extra hat or two for particularly chilly nights.
Common Fire Pit Bench Materials
Wood is always a wonderful material for seating structures. It lends itself to a wide variety of beautiful design styles. Wood will make an excellent fire pit bench for many years, but keep in mind that it needs to be stained or painted every few years to avoid natural weathering and deterioration. As long as your bench is placed either 2 or 3 feet away from the flames, it’s an excellent option for any outdoor living space.
Stone is also an excellent building material for benches near fire pits. Of course, stone is not flammable, it’s virtually maintenance-free and it can outlast the average home. There are so many gorgeous masonry materials to work with.
Both wood and stone benches can also be supplemented with steel beams for a beautiful reinforcement that works well in modern design applications.
How Do You Make A Simple Fire Pit Bench?
Unlike typical benches you may find in an outdoor living space, a single good fire pit bench needs to wrap around a majority of the fire pit to be effective. This can be achieved with a single rounded bench that curves in a circle, octagonal, hexagonal, or square shape around the fire;. You can also optimize everyone’s access to the warmth by using several smaller benches. Building a curved wooden bench can be a difficult process, so a hexagonal (six-sided) or octagonal (eight-sided) bench could be a great option if you want to surround the fire with a single bench.
How Do You Build DIY Fire Pit Seating?
Building fire pit seating depends on a knowledge of the available space. The most important aspect of any fire pit seating design is committing to accurate measurements. Let’s go over the steps of how to measure and build DIY fire pit seating:
1. Know your fire pit: As we’ve mentioned, a wood-burning and a gas-burning fire pit have different clearance requirements from combustible materials. Measure the diameter and the height of the edges.
2. Measure the space: Determine a 7 foot circle around your fire pit, starting from the edge of the fire pit. If you have a wood-burning fire pit, this is the space in which you should have no combustible materials other than benches (which can be treated for fire resistance). This means no trees or other plants, no dry plant material, nor flammable structures such as a wood pergola or the home’s siding.
3. Determine the buffer zone: The buffer zone around a gas-burning fire pit should be at least 2 feet while a wood-burning fire pit should be 3 feet. This is the space that is in front of any seating, and doesn’t account for the seating itself.
4. Determine the dimensions of the bench: The dimensions of your fire pit bench depend on the size and type of your fire pit. You want the fire pit and bench to complement each other. The seats should be anywhere from 12 to 24 inches deep. If you plan on building a bench with a backrest, take inspiration from your most comfortable chair at home. A deeper seat back will require some comfortable pillows.
How Tall Should A Fire Pit Bench Be?
The height from ground to seat level on a fire pit bench should be 15 to 20 inches. The right number all depends on what makes your family the most comfortable. If your dining chairs are comfortable, that’s a great height to use. The height of the seat back also depends on the limitations of your landscape design, such as a view you don’t want to block.
What Can You Sit A Fire Pit On?
A fire pit can produce a lot of heat. Though many standalone fire pits come ready with a specialized stand, DIY fire pits need to have either a heat shield, a cement pad, or some other buffer such as gravel or sand between the heat and the ground. This will protect your landscape features, especially the paved surface below. You can extend this base outward into the seating area if you like: for example, pea gravel is a great fireside material for a space with a casual vibe.
What Are Some Great Fire Pit Bench Designs?
Not everyone is into carpentry but thankfully there are some great pre-built or assembly-ready fire pit benches available. Here are some excellent fire pit bench styles and where to find them:
A Gorgeous Natural Finish
The Outdoor Wooden Curved Backless Porch Bench from kdgarden proudly displays the natural beauty of wood. The simple, yet elegant natural finish brings out the visual texture of the cedar and fir woods used. This great log bench for a fire pit fits in both rustic and modern settings.
Small and Beautiful
The Solid Wood Fire Pit Curved Bench from TisYour Season shows off the beautiful colors of natural wood with a simple oil finish that brings out the darker hues. This smaller bench can be on its own or work well in a set that helps to expand the community feel around a fire pit while being easier to move and store.
Sturdy and Versatile
The Portside Bench from West Elm is a great example of a bench that can fit in practically any outdoor setting. It’s part of the larger Portside Outdoor Dining Table set, but it can be easily moved all over your outdoor living space. This simple and elegant bench will support your backyard activities for years to come.
Comfortable and Supportive
The Mid-Century Outdoor High-Back Lounge Chairs from West Elm aren’t benches, but they can offer a wonderfully comfortable seat for several people around your fire pit.