Home Backyard School The Backyard Showdown Backyard School — everything outside the pool Backyard School covers everything outside the pool. Most advice on these questions is a number with no source. Ours comes from the documents: the fire code's 15 and 25 feet and who each one applies to, what every decking maker's warranty says about a fire pit, why a tank fades with 12 pounds of propane still in it, and what a gazebo's snow rating works out to per square foot. Patio care starts with what your patio is made of , and every rule is the maker's or the trade body's own.
Fire and heat Where it can sit, how far from the house, and what the fuel really does.
How Far Should a Fire Pit Be From a House? The Number Depends on What You Own There is no single number. A steel wood pit is 15 ft under the model fire code, with an exception at one- and two-family homes. A ring of stones is 25 ft with no exception. Gas goes by its manual, usually 2 to 4 ft. NFPA 1 states have no 15-ft tier in the edition we read. Can You Put a Fire Pit on a Deck? What Trex, TimberTech, Solo Stove and Breeo Actually Print On paper, mostly no. Every decking warranty we read excludes the heat, none says a mat keeps coverage, and every carded propane bowl is listed for non-combustible floors only. Trex says its boards can soften at 176°F. Nobody signs the permission slip. How Long Does a 20 lb Propane Tank Last? A Runtime Calculator, and Why It Quits in the Cold A full 20 lb tank holds about 9 hours for a 48,000 BTU heater. At 40°F it can hand over about 3.7 of them at full flame, then fades with about 12 lb still inside. Your tank isn't empty. It's out of pressure. Grills and smokers Where you can run one, and what the maker allows.
Can You Grill in a Garage With the Door Open? No, and Here Is What the Open Door Actually Does No. Blackstone and Weber both say a garage door is not a permanent opening, so an open door does not make a garage outdoors. In the one test with door positions, alarms still went off with the door fully open. Roll it out to the driveway. Pellet Grills in Cold, Rain and Snow: What the Makers Actually Allow You can smoke through winter, but read the blanket rule first. Traeger says below 32°F and 350°F or lower, or risk fire. recteq says avoid blankets. Z Grills says not above 40°F. Grilla says you never need one. No maker prints a minimum temperature. How to Use a Meat Thermometer on the Grill or Smoker: Where the Probe Goes, Cut by Cut The USDA's 145, 160 and 165°F are safety minimums; 203°F brisket is a texture target. Put the tip in the thickest part, off the bone, past the probe's insertion line, and read the lowest number. Check the thermometer in a packed ice bath: 32°F. Outdoor kitchen Plan the layout and the budget before you buy the appliances.
The $2,000 vs $5,000 vs $10,000+ Outdoor Kitchen: What Each Budget Actually Gets You (2026) An outdoor kitchen starts with a built-in grill head set into an island. What about $2,000, $5,000 and $10,000+ each buy, priced from the heads our built-in grill showdown picks and from dated island, fridge and build-cost reads. Outdoor Kitchen Countertops: Materials, Prices, Pros and Cons, and What the Warranties Say (2026) Your screened lanai is still outdoors. Standard quartz warranties exclude outdoor use, and Cambria's reaches sheltered areas too. Installed prices, a 10-foot cost table, pros and cons, and each maker's own wording. Outdoor Kitchen Layout: Zones, Clearances and How Long Your Counter Needs to Be (Calculator) Lay it out by zone, then size the counter: Kalamazoo's outdoor method puts 24 in of counter on one side of the grill and 12 on the other. Five grill manuals print five different clearances to combustibles, from 6¼ to 24 in. Read yours before you build. Gazebos and shade What the roof is rated to hold, in numbers you can compare.
Clean it What to put on each surface, and what never to.
Stop it coming back Mold, algae and moss on a patio in a humid climate.
Seal it Penetrating or film-forming — chosen by material, not by the shine on the can.