How to Build a Half-Moon Outdoor Fire Pit

Lay out your fire bricks in a half-moon shape in the area where you want to install your pit. Lay down one row of bricks.

Insert the edging shovel along the outside edge of the bricks, and dig the blade into the ground about 3 inches. This outlines the area where you will begin digging.

Excavate the area you marked with the edging shovel. Dig out 1 foot of soil, forming a half circle shape. Then lay down a band of gravel about 1 foot wide along the edge of the half-moon. Lay the gravel on all sides and all the way around the curve of the fire pit. Tamp this flat with a tamping tool.

Lay the firebricks around the edge of the half-moon shape on top of the gravel surface. The gravel will provide drainage for the pit. Place the bricks in an overlapping fashion (in the traditional bricklaying style) and build them all the way up to the top of the hole and level with the soil. Use a carpenter's level to make sure they are straight. Tap the ends with a rubber mallet to adjust the bricks and make them level. Apply adhesive to the tops of the firebricks in between each row.

Lay a trowel full of cement on top of the fire bricks just along the curve. You may leave the straight edge open, as this allows more air into the fire pit and keeps your fire burning nice and hot. Set capstones into the mortar and tap them in place with the mallet. Set these capstones any way you like; they provide a wind break and a barrier between the fire and surrounding grass.