Fire Pit on Rock Solid TV

[cuda]

This may need to be in a different forum, but I was watching DIY on TV the other day and the show "Rock Solid" was on. The guys were building a fire pit in which they used standard firebrick to line the inside of the round pit. Nothing unusual until they said they were using standard Type S mortar. They never mentioned anything about refractory materials or fireclay, etc. I'm pretty sure I didn't misunderstand what was said.

Now, I know it's vertical firebrick in an outdoor pit that probably won't get very hot or used very much, but I thought the portland broke down after standard mortar cooled down, which is why it doesn't work for heat applications like firebrick.

Could this work long-term, or do they not know what they are doing? If the latter is true, it makes me wonder what else these shows do that is incorrect or bad practice.

[larrya1049]

Re: Fire Pit on Rock Solid TV

You're right they said type "s". I wondered about that myself. Very cool show. Great projects.

Larry

[Modthyrth]

Re: Fire Pit on Rock Solid TV

Don't know the answer to the question, but when we had a fire pit made by a professional at our old house, he did the same thing. He said it was actually pretty unusual to line the fire pit with firebrick, that most fire pit fires just weren't big enough to warrant it. But just in case we ever wanted a roaring bonfire, he likes to add them. My guess is that they use the normal mortar on the same principle--the fires in fire pits typically run at far lower heats (and maybe less frequently for most people), so it's not an issue.