One of my small projects is now famous!

[Douglas Larson]

In late May of 2014 I bought a short sale and renovated the home and yard. It soon became summer and with my kids out of school (a 4 and a 7-year old), we spent a lot of time as a family at the home. I did quite a bit of work on the yard and some on the interior. Mostly, I was babysitting subcontractors and laborers who remodeled the kitchen, re-stained wood floors, painted walls, installed carpet, etc.

As with a most large renovations, there were some unusual challenges. One was a large, overgrown trampoline pit in the back yard. My first thought was to fill it in with dirt and lay sod. After using a 10-pound sledge hammer for way too long trying to remove the cinderblocks, re-bar and anchor cement, I thought "There must be a better option!" I have seen some awesome firepits in This Old House magazine and Houzz.com and I decided to make one with the giant, rectangular hole. I used treated and regular lumber to frame-out the benches and then skinned the framework with Hardiplank cement board. I stained the Hardiplanks and dumped some gravel in the bottom of the pit. The metal fire ring was $69 at Home Depot. The firepit was one of the first projects I completed on the home so the kids begged to roast marshmallows every evening we were there! We made some really fun memories!

I submitted the "before and after" photos to This Old house Magazine several months ago and just last month they told me to watch for it in this month's issue! They said they loved the re-purposing aspect and that it was a small-budget project. The materials were only about $400. I also think it was a great selling feature when I sold the house last fall.

Below are the progress photos: