I spent $40 on a cheap fire pit and it burned my patio bad

I grabbed a thin steel fire pit from a big box store last spring thinking it would be fine for a few backyard hangouts, but after three uses the bottom rusted through and dumped hot ash onto my concrete pavers, leaving two permanent scorch marks. Now I'm looking at $200 to replace the pavers and I feel like I should have just saved up for a better one from the start. Has anyone else had a cheap outdoor purchase backfire like this or am I just picking the wrong stuff?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethwhite3d ago

My $30 tabletop fire bowl from a home goods store actually melted a plastic cup sitting a foot away from it. I used to think any fire pit would do the job since they all just burn wood, but after seeing how fast that thin metal warped and ruined a brand new deck table, I totally get why people pay more now. The cheap ones just don't have the gauge or heat protection to last more than a season, and I learned that the hard way too.

thea7043d ago

Wait, @elizabethwhite, don't you think that warping and melting plastic just means you got a defective one rather than proof that all cheap fire pits are junk? I've had a $25 basic bowl for two years now and it's still going strong with no damage to anything around it.