Fireplaces & Fire Pits
The reason a backyard still gets used in January — built into the hardscape rather than bolted on top of it.
A fire feature is what makes the yard a living area
Most backyards in Northeast Florida get built for the six months nobody needs a reason to be outside. A fire feature covers the other six. It gives people somewhere to face, a reason to stay out after the sun goes down, and it turns an evening in December or January into something you actually plan for.
We build two things here: built-in fire pits set into the hardscape, and full outdoor fireplaces with a firebox and chimney. Both are masonry structures, designed with the patio around them — the seating, the walking room, the material and the colour all worked out together rather than one at a time.
What we do not do is drop a kit into the middle of a finished patio and call it a design. If a fire feature is going in, it should look like it was always meant to be there.
Fire pit or fireplace?
Both do the same job in very different ways. A fire pit is social and open; a fireplace is sheltered and architectural. Yard size, wind direction and how you already use the space usually decide it — here is the honest version of each.
Built-in fire pit
Open on all sides, so everybody sees everybody and sightlines across the yard stay clear. It seats more people in less space, sits low enough not to block a view, and works well at the centre of a patio or off the corner of a pool deck. Wind is the trade-off — an exposed pit is less comfortable on a breezy night.
Outdoor fireplace
A vertical structure with a firebox and chimney. It gives you a wall — which means shelter from wind, a defined edge to the patio, and somewhere to build in a hearth, a mantel or a television surround. It takes more room and more structure than a pit, and it is the bigger visual commitment of the two.
Gas or wood-burning, decided on site
Gas lights instantly, makes no smoke and leaves nothing to clean up, which is why most people who say they will use it every week end up choosing it. Wood-burning gives you the fire people actually picture — the smell, the sound, the mess — and it is worth it to plenty of homeowners.
The deciding factor is rarely preference. It is what fuel the property already has, where it can reach, and how the finished feature has to sit relative to the house, the screen enclosure and the prevailing wind. That is a conversation to have standing in the yard, which is exactly why our estimates are done in person.
We will tell you plainly if what you are picturing does not suit the space. Talking someone into the wrong feature is a bad way to earn a referral.
How a fire feature build runs
Same process as every project we take on, with the timing stated up front instead of after you have signed.
Call, then an in-person look
A person here answers weekdays 9am–5pm and your details go straight into our system. We book you with a salesperson who comes to the property — we tried quoting remotely and it did not hold up.
Written quote promptly
Your quote follows promptly after the visit, in writing, with the scope spelled out so you can read exactly what is included before you commit to anything.
Engineering & permitting
After approval, engineering comes first, then we submit for permit. Steady in St. Johns, Clay and the beaches; a little longer in Nassau; Duval is a wild card and we will say so.
Build
Install typically lands once the permit is in hand. If the fire feature is going in with a patio, deck, kitchen or enclosure, it is all one schedule and one point of accountability.
The way we work
This family business has run the same way for years, and the only version of that worth printing is the one you can check. In practice it means the number we quote is the number we honour, the timeline we give you is the real one including the parts we do not control, and the person who answers the phone is someone who works here.
St. Johns Outdoors was formed in 2021 and is run by the Brown family — the owner grew up around the trade, spent about a decade in aluminum and outdoor-living construction, and came back to it after fourteen years in medical sales. His sons work in the business alongside him.
Military and first responder discounts available.
Where we build fire features
Roughly an hour around Jacksonville and St. Johns County. North to Fernandina Beach and Amelia Island, south as far as Palm Coast and no further, and west through Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs and Middleburg.
That covers Ponte Vedra and Ponte Vedra Beach, Nocatee, Julington Creek, Durbin Crossing, Shearwater, eTown, St. Augustine and the Jacksonville beaches. Permit timelines vary by county, which is why we quote yours specifically rather than giving everyone the same number.
If you are just outside that line, tell us anyway. We would rather be straight with you about whether it makes sense than take a job we cannot service properly.
FAQ
Fire feature questions.
Call us — a real person answers weekdays 9–5, and every inquiry gets a same-day response during business hours.
Call (904) 925-3089A fire pit is open on all sides and people sit around it; a fireplace is a vertical structure with a firebox and chimney, and people sit in front of it. That difference decides more than looks. A fire pit keeps sightlines open across the yard and seats more people in the same footprint, while a fireplace gives you a wall — shelter from wind, a focal point at the edge of a patio, and a place to put a mantel or a television. We talk both through on site, because the right answer usually comes down to how much room you have and which direction the space faces.
Often, yes — but it is a question we answer at the property rather than over the phone. What matters is what is under the existing surface and whether the base can carry a masonry structure, which is not something anyone can judge from a photo or a satellite image. If the existing hardscape will take it, we tie the new work into the pattern and colour you already have. If it will not, we will tell you that and show you what it would take instead.
Book a free estimateGas lights instantly, produces no smoke or ash, and is the easier choice if you want to use the space on a whim; wood-burning gives you the fire most people picture, at the cost of hauling and storing fuel and cleaning up afterwards. Neither is wrong. The practical constraint is usually what fuel your property already has and where it can be run to, so we settle it during the on-site estimate rather than guessing at it beforehand.
Yes — we run the engineering and pull the permit for the work we do, so you are not chasing the county. Once you approve the quote, engineering comes first and the permit is submitted after that. St. Johns County, Clay County and Jacksonville Beach tend to move at a steady pace; Nassau and Fernandina run a little longer; Duval is genuinely a wild card, sometimes quick, sometimes a long wait. We will tell you your county's reality before you sign rather than after.
See how a project runsIf you are in an HOA community, almost certainly — and we prepare everything the application needs. The submission itself goes through you, because HOAs deal directly with the homeowner rather than the contractor. After that it comes down to when your board next meets, which is luck of the draw: you either catch the next meeting or you have just missed one. That is their calendar, and it is outside our control.
Yes, and it is the better way to do it. A fire feature designed alongside the paver work sits at the right height, in the right material, with the seating and traffic paths already planned around it — rather than dropped into a finished patio afterwards. Hardscape, outdoor kitchens, screen enclosures and aluminum pergolas all run through the same schedule and the same point of accountability here, so a backyard that needs several of them is one project, not three contractors blaming each other.
See all servicesReady to plan it?
Get a Free Estimate
Tell us what you have in mind and we'll come out and look at the space in person — then your written quote follows promptly after the visit.