How to Install a Natural Stone Patio with Fire Pit

In this video, Jenn Nawada shares how to build a natural stone patio with a fire pit.

Steps for Installing a Patio with a Fire Pit

For this project in Walpole, Massachusetts, homeowner Michael Kelleher worked with landscape designer Jennifer Nawada and landscape contractor A. Bonadio & Sons to create an 18-by-18-foot patio. The fire pit, made from massive salvaged blocks of granite, anchors the patio design and keeps the festivities going after the sun goes down. As featured in This Old House Magazine, the team focused most of the project time on creating a rock-solid foundation — because a long-lasting patio is a lot like a smooth paint job: it’s all about the prep work.

1. Before digging, always call a utility locating service to locate underground pipes and wires.
2. Excavate the area for the patio down to subsoil by hand or using an excavator.
3. Rake out the subsoil to a smooth grade and then compact it with a gas plate compactor.
4. Fill the area with a base material that’s a mixture of ¾” stone and stone dust about 3″ at a time. Rake out the mixture smooth and then compact it with the gas plate compactor. Repeat until the base material is about 3″ below finished grade.
5. To cut the granite to length, drill a series of 3-4″ deep holes on 3 sides of the stone. Insert feathers and wedges into every hole and then tap each one a little at a time with a mallet until the stone breaks.
6. Use the excavator to move the four granite stones for the fire pit into position.
7. Fill the center of the firepit about a third of the way with ¾” stone.
8. Apply a layer of stone dust over the base material and compact it with the plate compactor.
9. Lay the bluestone in place. To properly level the natural stone, use a mallet to hit down the high spots. If there are low spots or voids under the stone, add more stone dust to fill those areas.
10. Once all the stones are installed and level, sweep stone dust into the joints. If the stones are dry, polymeric sand can also be used.

Setting the First Stone: When laying the bluestone, place the first 24-inch-long piece about ⅜ inch away from the edge of the granite so it extends past the fire pit corner, leaving enough room for the second paver and the joint. Make sure the paver is evenly spaced away from the mason line by the fire pit. Check the bluestone for level, accounting for the ¼-inch pitch, then tamp with a rubber mallet to set the stone. Continue building out the pattern, mixing 24- and 12-inch-wide pavers together while keeping all joints at about ⅜ inch wide.

Getting the Grade Right: When building the base, string a mason line to a pair of stakes about a foot beyond the final patio size, then add three more perimeter string lines to complete the patio outline, squaring each using the 3-4-5-foot rule. Use a line level to slope the strings ¼ inch per foot so water will run off the patio and away from the house. Make an X with two more strings diagonally between corners — you’ll use all these lines to measure the height of the base as you build.

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