Fire Pits and Fireplaces: Using Your Backyard Later Into Fall

As the evenings cool off, a fire is what keeps a backyard in use after the rest of the yard has gone quiet for the year. That is why a lot of homeowners north of Boston add a fire pit or a fireplace to their patio. It buys more months outside. Before you build one, a few choices shape how well it works: a low fire pit or a taller fireplace, wood or gas, and where the fire sits in the patio. Here is a plain look at each, with real J&E builds as examples.

Fire pit or fireplace

A fire pit and a fireplace are two different builds. A fire pit is low and open. People sit around it in a circle, and the warmth spreads on all sides, so it suits a group that likes to gather close to the flame. A built fireplace is a taller, upright structure with one open face and a chimney that carries the smoke up and away. It sends heat in one direction and doubles as a wall or a backdrop, so it anchors one side of a seating area and gives the space a clear focal point. J&E builds both. If a fireplace is what you picture, raise it early, since its height and chimney shape the layout around it.

Wood or gas

Both wood-burning and gas fire pits are common, and the right one comes down to how you like to use a fire. A wood-burning fire pit gives you a real wood fire, with the crackle, the flame, and the smell of burning logs, in exchange for feeding it wood and clearing out the ash. A gas fire pit lights with the turn of a knob and burns with little smoke or ash, so it is quick to start and quick to shut off when the night is over. Gas also needs a line run to it, which is worth planning early. J&E has built both. The wood-burning kind shows up at Whittemore Glow in Wayland, where a custom wood-burning fire pit sits in a semicircular paver patio, and again at Hillside Terrace in Woburn. On the gas side, J&E has built a gas fire pit into a Medford backyard. Which one fits is a matter of taste and how much upkeep you want, not a case of one being right for everyone.

Where it should go

A fire feature works best when the patio is planned around it, not when it is dropped in afterward. Placement comes down to how people will sit and move near an open flame, so it is worth settling on paper before the stone goes down. Give it room. Keep it a comfortable distance from the house and anything that can catch, with clear space around the seating. Whittemore Glow is a good example. The fire pit sits at the center of a semicircular paver patio, so seating wraps around it and everyone faces the fire. When the fire has a clear place in the layout, the whole patio works better around it.

What it does for your season

In this part of New England the evenings turn cool well before anyone is ready to give up the backyard for the year. A fire feature is what keeps people outside once that happens. Put warmth in one spot and the patio stays in use for dinners, drinks, and time with family into the fall, instead of sitting empty from the first cold night on. Hillside Terrace in Woburn was built with that in mind, and the fire is a big part of why that terrace still gets used once the season turns.

A fire pit or fireplace is one of the simpler ways to get more months out of a backyard. Settle the choices first: a pit or a fireplace, wood or gas, and where it sits. From there, J&E builds it. Whether a landscape designer or architect drew your plan, or you have your own picture of what you want, one J&E crew builds the fire feature and the patio around it. Take a look at our fire pits and fireplaces under Outdoor Living, then get in touch for a quote. Call 781-608-4425 when you are ready to build.