Fire Pits
Fire Pit Installation in Hampton Bays, NY
Built-in and freestanding fire pits across Hampton Bays in block, stone and paver, gas or wood-burning. Sized to the seating you actually own and sited where it’s legal and sensible to have a fire.
The ground under Hampton Bays
Hampton Bays is surrounded by water: Peconic Bay to the north, Shinnecock and Tiana bays to the south, with barrier beach beyond. Roughly a third of the hamlet’s area is water, and that defines the ground: coastal sand, free-draining to a fault, and on properties near the water sitting over a high water table that limits excavation depth.
Then there’s salt, which is the thing that genuinely makes Hampton Bays different from everywhere else we work.
For a fire pit, coastal sand compacts fine when it’s done properly. The coastal specifics are salt on any metal, such as burner components, grates and fixings, and wind, which matters more here than inland when you’re deciding where the smoke goes and how sheltered the seating needs to be.
How we do the work
Sizing is the thing people get wrong. Interior diameter decides how big a fire you can have: too small and it’s a candle, too big and the people opposite each other are too far apart to talk. But the footprint is set by the seating, not the pit: people sit back from a fire, so the circle of chairs is considerably wider than the fire itself. A pit that leaves no room to walk behind a seated person doesn’t get used twice.
Wall height matters more than expected. A low wall lets you feel the heat at ankle level and rest your feet; a taller one throws heat up and away and doubles as a bench.
Gas or wood. Wood gives you the fire people picture: the smell, the sound, the flames, and also wood storage, ash, and smoke that follows whoever it feels like following. Gas lights instantly, produces no smoke or ash, and switches off when you go in. The practical question is how often you’ll actually light it: wood fires get used on occasions, gas fires get used on Tuesdays.
What moves the price in Hampton Bays
Specification for salt costs more here and is worth paying for. Stainless grades that perform perfectly ten miles inland will pit and streak within a couple of seasons in marine air, so anything with metal in it, such as fixings, edge restraint, appliances and railings, gets specified for coastal exposure. Distance and season are the other two: Hampton Bays is the eastern end of our range and we block-schedule it, and on the many seasonal properties here the shoulder seasons are easier to book and less disruptive.
Local rules
Hampton Bays is in the Town of Southampton: a different authority from every other town we cover, with its own requirements. Waterfront and near-waterfront properties are where this matters most: coastal and wetlands regulation can apply to work that would be unremarkable inland.
What we’ll do regardless: tell you what applies before you sign, not after we’ve started.
Why this crew
The person who quotes the job is on the crew that runs it, and the quote states the base depth, which is the line worth comparing across any estimates you’re holding.
ICPI certified, Techo-Bloc Pro, A+ with the BBB, trading since 2017, working out of a yard on Horseblock Road in Medford.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put one on my existing patio?
Usually. It depends on what the patio is built on and whether it can take the point load. We’ll look at it.
Will smoke bother my neighbours?
On a typical suburban lot, possibly, depending on wind and how close the boundary is. It’s the main practical argument for gas on smaller properties.
Can you work while I’m not at the property?
Regularly: a good proportion of Hampton Bays work is on seasonal properties. We agree how you want progress shared, usually photographs at each stage, and a point at which you sign off.