What is the difference between a fire pit and an outdoor fireplace?

A fire pit is an open, lower-profile feature, usually round or square, that people gather around from all sides; it is more casual and generally lower cost. An outdoor fireplace is a vertical structure with a chimney that anchors a space, directs heat and smoke in one direction, and creates a focal point and a sense of an outdoor room. The right choice depends on the space, the budget, and how you want to use it. Both are designed and built to suit the patio and outdoor living area around them.

Should I choose a wood-burning or gas fire feature?

Wood-burning features give the classic crackle, aroma, and higher heat, with the trade-off of tending the fire, sourcing wood, and cleaning ash. Gas features light instantly, offer controllable flame and easy shut-off, and burn clean, with the trade-off of running a gas line and somewhat less heat and ambiance. Many East Central Indiana homeowners choose gas for convenience or wood for the experience; some build both. The decision shapes the design, since a gas feature needs a line run during the build.

How does a fire feature extend the outdoor season in Indiana?

This is exactly why fire features are so popular here. East Central Indiana has cool spring and fall evenings and a real winter, and a fire feature makes a patio usable when it would otherwise sit empty. It draws people outside in March and keeps them out into November, turning a summer-only space into a three-season one. Paired with lighting and a covered or sheltered seating area, a fire feature is one of the highest-value additions for getting more months of use out of a yard.

Is a fire feature safe near a patio and house?

Yes, when it is properly designed and placed. Clearances from the house, overhangs, and combustible materials, the right non-combustible materials and base, proper venting on a fireplace, and a safe surround all matter, as do any local code requirements in Muncie and Delaware County. A gas feature adds the safety of a controlled shut-off. Designing the fire feature as part of the hardscape, by a team that knows the clearances and code, is what keeps it both beautiful and safe.

How much does a fire feature cost?

A simple built-in fire pit is a modest investment, while a full masonry outdoor fireplace with a chimney and stone facing is significantly more, and a gas feature adds the cost of running a line. Material, size, and detail drive the range. Because a fire feature is usually built into a larger patio or outdoor living project, it is scoped together with the surrounding hardscape during the site walk, and you get a written proposal with the full number before work begins.

Fire Features in Muncie, Indiana

We Picture a World Where Families Gather by Firelight

Start Dreaming

Fire Feature Design and Construction in Muncie, Indiana

You deserve a fire feature that gets used across three of the four seasons, not just on the occasional warm summer night. Most outdoor fire installations on Indiana properties get used hard for a year or two after they go in and then settle into a pattern of two or three lit fires a summer. The problem is rarely the fire feature itself. The problem is that the fire was installed without the conversations that would have made it useful through April, October, and most of the shoulder weather between.

A fire feature designed right gets the homeowner outside in late March on the first warm evening, in October as the leaves come down, and on any Saturday in November that hits 55 degrees. The page below walks the three comparison axes that decide what the right fire feature for a property is: wood-burning versus gas, fire pit versus fireplace versus fire table, and built-in versus movable.

Josh Perkins, Landscape Architect, leads the design decisions at Plant Studio Landscape’s Muncie fire feature crew. The crew runs the same property year over year and reads how the fire actually got used in season one into the recommendations for any season-two modifications.