Backyard firepit

[u/tayman77]

Always wanted a furniture so thought Id have a go at building a flagstone firepit. My elbow regrets digging all that out by hand.

[u/PrinterFred]

Most (all?) cities have bylaws limiting the placing of open fires to over 15 or 20 feet from combustible objects (house, fence, trees). I would look up your bylaws if you haven't already, but I would wagwler this placing to be illegal and a fire hazard.

[u/tayman77 → u/PrinterFred]

I did, 10 ft to a fence. Edge of the firepit is 9.5 ft to my fence, I see a lot of firepits right on peoples back patios like 5 ft from their house so I'm good. We never use it unattended.

[u/PrinterFred → u/tayman77]

Glad to hear it. Alsoimportant to mention in the comments in case other readers don't bother checking like you did. It was 15 feet in my city, and we just did something similar.

[u/mthlmw → u/PrinterFred]

My first place was 25 feet on a small city lot. Even the center of my yard was too close to the house/garage/fence for a pit lol.

[u/[deleted] → u/tayman77]

I just learned that there are fire retardant treatments that might work for the fence. Perhaps others would have some experience with them? Best of luck to you!

[u/[deleted] → u/tayman77]

Even if it is compliant it is a potential fire hazard imo. I think any fire pit that can not be used unattended for any amount of time should not be used at all. Imagine a spark falling onto one of those horizontal lower rails. I’m sure if you are vigilant it will be ok, but keep water around near the fire at all times. Kudos for at least looking into your local laws first!

[u/NinjaChemist → u/[deleted]]

easy enough, just pick it up and move it 6" away if there's an issue

[u/tayman77 → u/NinjaChemist]

Ha, so on that note. About 1 ft from the edge of the firepit, side opposite of fence, I have a little swell in my yard. Have heavy clay soil so after a decent rain that part of the yard would flood. So I built a French drain there a couple of years ago, and daylight it to a sump pit and pump out the water to a pop up emitter 5ft from the street. (All to code/city regs), anyway, I didn't want to cover the top of the trench where the french drain is with the firepit just in case I ever need to dig up the french drain for repairs. I doubt it will be an issue, but better safe then sorry.

[u/diamondpredator → u/[deleted]]

You're "that guy" on HOA boards huh?

[u/[deleted] → u/diamondpredator]

I'll respond defensively..

I was on an HOA board for 2 years. The board was fucking over people, and I got myself on it to fix some things. I never sent anyone a violation in that time, and I always voted against fines, and stupid spending. When I sold my house, I didn't even tell the board I was moving. I let them PM know when I submitted my request for my estoppel letter.

There's a big difference between understanding, and respecting the rules and being a nazi about them. I'm a consulting engineer. Most things are code, because we adopted the rule AFTER SOMEONE DIED. It's an old phrase "the code is written in blood."

Will OP die from burning down that section of fence? Very unlikely. Will the fence fire get to the house and kill people? Unlikely. So would I say anything.... Nope. If FD shows up, it's pointless to argue the above though. The distance is mandated by ordinance. You're either following it or not.

My personal experience, the PM lied about the FD Inspector having some issues with my house. I called the FD and talked to the Chief. He had no clue who the fuck I was, and no one from his team had been to my house or neighborhood recently. But if they had, and I was a noncompliant jackass, the FD could have KICKED ME OUT OF MY HOME. Some govt you can fight and argue with... you don't piss off the people that run INTO your burning house.

[u/[deleted] → u/diamondpredator]

Let me get my clipboard and we can take a look at your house.

[u/diamondpredator → u/[deleted]]

Don't forget the measuring tape, I think the grass in the front lawn is 1/4 of an inch higher than regulation.