Evenings on the Monterey Bay cool off fast, even in August. A fire pit or an outdoor fireplace is what keeps people in the yard after the fog rolls in, and it is usually the feature a backyard ends up organized around. PGS Landscape designs and builds fire features that are built in, sized to the space, and detailed to match the rest of the landscape.
What We Build
- Built-in fire pits in stone, block, or poured concrete with a flagstone or concrete cap
- Fire pits with seat walls that define the space and double as seating
- Outdoor fireplaces with a chimney, for wind exposed or view oriented yards
- Fire tables and linear burners for a lower profile, modern look
Gas, Propane, or Wood
- Natural gas burns clean, lights instantly, and never runs out. It needs a line run from the house, which is plumbing work and normally means a permit and an inspection.
- Propane skips the trenching. The tank has to live somewhere with proper ventilation, and you will be refilling or swapping it.
- Wood is what most people picture, and it carries the most local restriction. On wildland interface lots in the San Lorenzo Valley, Bonny Doon, or the Aptos hills, plenty of our customers pick gas so the feature is usable during fire season instead of sitting cold from May through November.
Fire Rules Around Here
We are landscape contractors, not the fire marshal, so we confirm the requirements for your address and district before we build.
Outdoor burning across Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito counties runs through the Monterey Bay Air Resources District, which issues the permits and declares burn days. That program covers burning yard debris in piles, in a season that runs roughly December through April. It is not written for recreational fire features, and neither is the Santa Cruz County Fire burn permit material. The clean answer comes from your local fire district and building department, and it genuinely varies. Central Fire, Scotts Valley, Boulder Creek, Felton, and the Monterey County districts do not all treat it the same way, and city limits differ from unincorporated county.
What does not vary: red flag conditions shut wood fires down, an outdoor fire has to be attended with water or an extinguisher on hand, and placement matters. We keep fire features clear of walls, fences, eaves, and overhanging limbs, with swept, non combustible ground around them. That is sound defensible space practice on a wooded lot and it is also just how the thing gets built properly.
Materials
Natural stone and stone veneer, flagstone caps, stucco to match a house exterior, or poured concrete for a modern look, all built over a concrete block core. Salt air near the coast in Live Oak, Capitola, and Pacific Grove is hard on burner hardware and fasteners, so we spec stainless components where it counts rather than the cheapest kit on the shelf.
Part of a Complete Outdoor Living Space
A fire feature works best as one piece of a whole. PGS can build yours alongside a patio sized so chairs actually fit around it, an outdoor kitchen, lit walkways back to the house, a water feature, and the rest of your hardscape. If you are still working out what you want, our post on backyard fire pit ideas walks through the layouts we build most.
Fire Pit Installation Across Santa Cruz County & Monterey County
PGS Landscape has been building outdoor living spaces in the Monterey Bay area for over 40 years. We serve Santa Cruz, Aptos, Capitola, Scotts Valley, Soquel, Live Oak, Felton, Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon, Watsonville, Monterey, Carmel, Salinas, Pacific Grove, Marina, Seaside, and all surrounding communities.
Why Choose PGS for Your Fire Feature
- Over 40 years of hardscape construction experience in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties
- We check the fire district and permit requirements for your address instead of assuming
- Built in construction with proper footings, drainage, and ventilation, not a kit dropped on the lawn
- Designed to sit correctly within the patio, seating, and planting around it
Ready to get the yard usable after sunset? Call us at 831.254.3447 for a free estimate, or contact us online.