Patios / Fire Pits

Fire Pit Installation in Dallas-Fort Worth

Custom stone fire pits, gas and wood-burning. Built on a real footing with heat-rated materials so they hold up through Texas summers and winter freezes.

Adding a fire pit should be the easy, fun part of a backyard, and it usually is until you get back a kit-on-a-pad quote that cracks the first cold snap. We build fire pits the right way: a poured footing, fire brick or a steel ring at the core, and a stone surround set to take real heat without spalling. The result is a pit you actually use, not one you replace in two years.

The first decision is fuel, and there are three real options. Natural gas is the easiest to live with: it lights with a switch, throws no smoke or ash, and never runs out, but it needs a gas line run from the house to the pit, which is the main cost beyond the pit itself. Propane gives you the same clean flame and switch-on convenience without a line, but it runs off a tank you hide in the base and refill. Wood-burning costs the least to build and gives you the real crackle and a bigger flame, but it makes smoke and ash, wants a spot clear of the house and fence, and some HOAs restrict it. Most DFW homeowners we build for go natural gas for the convenience. We talk through all three at the estimate.

Most pits are built-in, set permanently into the patio with a stone surround so they look original to the yard, and that is what we build most of. A freestanding fire bowl or a fire table is the lighter option: it sits on the surface, can run on propane with no line, and moves if you rearrange the space, but it does not read as part of the hardscape the way a built-in does. If you want a feature that anchors a seating area, build it in. If you want something simple you can move, a freestanding bowl or table does the job.

On materials, the surround is usually flagstone, travertine, or a manufactured stone veneer over a block or poured base, with a cap you can set a drink on. The core is what takes the heat: a fire brick liner or a steel ring on a wood-burning pit, and a steel burner insert and pan on a gas pit, so the flame and heat never touch the decorative stone directly. We match the surround stone to your existing patio, pavers, or pool coping so the pit looks like it was always there. A round gather-around pit, a square modern pit, a fire table, or a fire bowl set into a pool or spa wall are all on the table.

The build is won or lost on what you cannot see. A fire pit set straight on pavers with no footing heaves with our clay soil and the surround pulls apart. We pour a proper footing, set the fire-rated liner or burner pan, and lay the surround in heat-rated mortar. Placement matters too: we follow NFPA clearances so the pit sits a safe distance from the house, the fence, the eaves, and anything overhead that can catch, and we keep a gas pit's line and shutoff to code. A gas line usually does not need a permit for a simple run, but some DFW cities and many HOAs have rules on open flame and setbacks, so we check your jurisdiction and HOA before we build and keep the pit inside the lines.

A fire pit pairs naturally with a low seat wall wrapped around it. A seat wall, usually 18 to 24 inches, gives you built-in seating so you are not dragging chairs out every time, and capping it in the same stone as the pit ties the whole area together. We build the seat wall and the pit as one piece. See retaining and seat walls for how those go in.

A fire pit and an outdoor fireplace solve different problems. A fire pit is open, lower cost, and gathers people in a circle, and it runs $3,000 to $9,000 installed. An outdoor fireplace is a tall masonry structure with a chimney that anchors a wall, blocks wind, and costs several times more. If you want to sit around the fire, build the pit. If you want a wall focal point, look at the fireplace. On the pit, the cost comes down to fuel and the line run, the size and stone of the surround, whether you add a seat wall, and site access. A simple wood-burning or propane pit lands at the low end; a natural gas pit with a longer line run, premium stone, and a seat wall runs higher. We measure and give a fixed number on site. Most pits go in over 3 to 5 days.

A fire pit is a natural add-on to a patio or an outdoor kitchen project, and doing them together means one crew, one material palette, and one timeline. We install fire pits across Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, and Frisco, starting with a free on-site estimate.