I have been dreaming of a nice pit/patio for a couple years. We have a pit now, but I would like to put in a nice one, and a patio to go with it. Nothing big and fancy, just something to set a few chairs around.... and of most importance, ON A BUDGET! What are your ideas for the most inexpensive way to create a fire pit patio? I don't care as much about looks....I want it to look NEAT, yes, but of course I want chairs to sit well, so not gravel, unless it was compacted down... like in our barn, we use limestone screenings for the floor. The gravel got raked away and just left a hard, compact sandy base. Almost like cement. I could even deal with that....but may get "pothol-ey" with rain. So I'm not considering that idea so much. And...it would need to be edged to keep it all in I'm sure. It wouldn't be right in my back yard, it would be set off a bit.....I have a large country lot. That's why fancy isn't a big deal to me, I do actually like more rustic...but would like some sort of flat sitting area, and not having to mow right up to the pit. And, what size pit is too small? I'm thinking of using landscape blocks. That's what I have now, but they are spaced apart, because when I had them flush together, the pit seemed too small. But it's quite large now. If the pit is smaller and you use blocks, will they split with the heat? Thanks for any opinions!

Thanks for the feedback. We ended up handling it much like a brick paver. We went down 6". Then laid 2" of stone, another 2" inches of stone/sand mix, and finished with a paver sand for the final 2 inches. We had some play sand for making sure our first layer was level. After that, it went fast. Be backfilled the outside, the inside was packed in with more sand (before we added the ring), then finished with 2 cubic feet of lava rock. There are small gaps between blocks. We'll keep filling those with sand as the summer progresses until it can't handle more. Then we'll finish it up with cement caulk and keep our fingers crossed it holds for the winter.

It's hard to tell from the pictures what the base that the tiles are on is made of. If it is something that would expand/contract as the pit heats up and cools down (like metal, which is what my fire pit is made of) that could lead to problems with the mosaic cracking or pieces popping off if they were attached directly on the surface. If the pit is made of something that expands you could still make a mosaic on something like a thin piece of cement backer board and attach that to the pit, I think (not an expert here!!).

The "rusty" looking material appears to be iron ore that is leeching through the cement. Probably not going to get rid of that totally. Maybe try some CLR on it? Do you have a full photo of the table?