Can I convert my wood-burning fire pit to gas?

What the conversion actually involves

The good news is that a solid wood-burning fire pit is already most of the way there — you've got the enclosure, the seating, the patio, the view. Converting it means clearing out the old ash bowl, confirming the shell can carry a burner pan, dropping in a correctly sized gas burner and media pan, and running the gas line out to it.

From there you finish with lava rock or fire glass on top, and you've traded hauling wood and cold-start smoke for flame at the turn of a key. Most homeowners who make the switch tell us the same thing — they use the pit ten times as often once there's no fire to build and no ashes to shovel.

Natural gas or propane

Which fuel you convert to depends on your address. Along the Asheville and Hendersonville mains, natural gas is usually the easy call — plumb it once and you never run out mid-evening. Out in Fairview, Candler, Brevard, and the cabins tucked up our mountain roads, propane is the answer, fed either from a hidden tank in the base or, better, a larger tank we plumb underground.

The burner has to be jetted for whichever fuel you're on. Propane burns hotter per unit and takes a different orifice and pressure than natural gas — a wrong-fuel setup runs lazy and soots. Getting that right is part of what a real conversion buys you.

Why the gas side is our lane

In North Carolina, running or extending a gas line is licensed work. A mason can build you a beautiful fire pit, but he legally can't connect it to fuel — we can, and we pull the permit with your county, meet the inspector, and pressure-test the line. That single accountable path — burner sizing, gas line, permit, tuning — is the difference between a feature that just works and one that gives an inspector or your insurer pause. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free look at your existing pit.