In recent years, many have embraced the habit of enjoying the company of friends and family outdoors. But how can you make that even more comfortable?
Few things bring together camaraderie and storytelling as much as sitting around a fire, and there are many different ways to bring that joy to your own yard. From installing pavers and a wood-burning fire pit on your own to paying someone to design a custom, permanent pit with its own gas line, experts in the Inland Northwest are ready to help.
FREESTANDING FIRE
While you might find several freestanding fire pit choices at hardware stores, there are also locally manufactured and handcrafted options to consider.Chris Sothen and Collin Schweikl, co-owners of Tohst Modern Living, spent much of the early days of the pandemic designing their stand-alone, portable fire pit called the NOMAD.
The sleek, rectangular fire pit has rounded corners and comes in unique, modern colors, running on a standard 20-pound propane tank.
The product is all American-made right here in the Inland Northwest; the pits are designed in Spokane, manufactured in Liberty Lake and assembled in Spokane Valley, Sothen says.
Sothen and Schweikl, who also work as general contractors doing landscape design, wanted to create somewhat of a hybrid between cheaper, portable fire rings and aesthetically pleasing permanent fire pits that can run $8,000 to $12,000 or more if you want to run a gas line to your yard, Sothen says.
"We wanted to offer a high-end product that isn't really seen in the portable world," Sothen says. "You don't necessarily need to redo your whole backyard to use this. If you have a condo balcony it'll work perfectly there, or on a small deck. The cool thing about this product is it kind of works with what you have."
Not only is the Nomad designed to last far longer than other pits that may get holes in them after just a year or two, it's also designed to put out more heat than many propane-burning fire pits on the market, Sothen says.
The Nomad will run you about $2,350, and the company is working on another design that may be friendlier for camping.
Meanwhile, local welder and artist Scott Shumake builds custom geometric wood-burning fire pits that hang suspended above the ground on a metal tripod. The inspiration for the SOLID FIRE PITS he designs and builds came out of a kinetic sculpture art project he completed at Spokane Falls Community College.
"I thought, 'How cool would it be if that sculpture, its light source was fire?'" Shumake says. "It's the most primal. I wanted to mix my passion for sacred geometry with my ability to make and manipulate metal."
The steel fire pits he designs range from as low as $500 for a small, simpler design to $7,500 for a monster-sized tripod with a fire pit that's 4 or 5 feet in diameter. His midrange runs about $1,250.
"They're not something you're going to burn through in a season like something you'd buy from any other store," Shumake says.
The option to customize the fire pit with panels featuring mountain scenes, a family name or other designs is the major draw for his customers.
DESIGN A BACKYARD PARADISE
On the pricier end of fashioning a warm gathering space, there's the option of hiring a design firm and paying contractors to overhaul your yard.Coppercreek Landscaping can help customers design everything from a fire pit with its own gas line to a new swimming pool.
Customers of the high-end design firm regularly spend anywhere from $100,000 to more than $1 million to design and build out their backyard paradise, depending on how complex it is, says Coppercreek President Matt Barton.
"Typically, I'd say on average our projects are in the $100,000 range," Barton says.
Often, that's because once you get talking about something like a gas fire pit that you can simply turn on and off, you realize that will involve digging a gas line and maybe tearing up a porch, Barton says. That's when other ideas start to arise like putting in that pergola you've always wanted.
"Then, while we're putting in the gas line, do you want the outdoor kitchen?" Barton asks. "Ever since COVID came on, we've been doing pizza ovens like crazy."
If you want to go the DIY route and install your own fire pit, Barton advises that the main difference will be how much heat it can put out, likely making the feature more decorative.
"We use what we call an appliance-grade fire pit burner: It's really meant to put out a lot of heat, and the flame control is fully adjustable," Barton says. "On a do-it-yourself kit, you're not going to have some of those features, but it's a fraction of the cost, too."
Between the pandemic forcing more people to stay home and spend time in their own outdoor spaces, and the surge in housing prices encouraging people to invest in their own homes, Barton says business has been booming.
In fact, the firm is already completely booked for 2022 and is now making a list for 2023 projects, he says. But Coppercreek is willing to design projects if a customer can find someone else to build it sooner, Barton adds.
They're not the only ones keeping busy: Sothen says their design business, Blend Outdoor Design, is already booked through August.
"[Previously] we would usually tell people we're six to 10 to 12 weeks out to do your project," Barton says. "We started taking deposits in June last year for projects this year. ... It's something I've never dealt with in this industry." ♦