How do I winterize my gas fire pit at the end of the season?
In Brevard, rain is a bigger enemy than cold — with 80-plus inches a year, winterizing is really about drainage. Get the burner, pan, and any fire glass or lava rock dry, cover the pit so water sheds off instead of pooling, and shut the fuel down before the first hard freeze so no moisture sits in the burner all winter.
Water is the whole problem here
Transylvania County's rainfall is the local story. The same wet season that cracks crowns, spalls brick, and rusts dampers on Brevard chimneys goes to work on a fire-pit burner the moment water finds its way in. A cover that traps humidity underneath is almost as bad as no cover — you want one that sheds water and lets the pan breathe, and you want the pan itself draining, not holding a frozen puddle over the burner ports.
Downtown homes and the cabins out toward Connestee Falls and Sherwood Forest share the same moisture trap in their crawl spaces and chimney chases. Your pit lives in that climate too, so treat drying it out as the main event.
Glass, rock, and the fuel
Fire glass and lava rock soak up water and hold it. Scoop the media into a dry bin or cover it tight so the pan can drain; soaked glass that gets lit before it dries next spring can pop as trapped moisture flashes to steam.
For fuel, a propane pit gets the tank closed and stored upright outside, away from the house; a natural-gas pit just gets its valve shut for the season. If a wet winter already left your burner rusty or sparking weak, we're 40 minutes southwest — call (828) 545-0525.
Fireplace help in Brevard
We install and service fireplaces throughout Brevard and the rest of Transylvania County — just 40 minutes southwest from our Asheville-area showroom.
Related questions
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