Fire Tables

How a fire table works

The burner sits in a channel or a bowl set into the table top, usually surrounded by lava rock or glass media that spreads the flame and hides the burner. Around it there is enough solid surface to put a glass down, which is the whole advantage over a fire pit. Gas models take a bottle housed in the base or standing alongside, and light from a control on the frame.

Choosing the height

Fire tables come at coffee height for lounge seating and at dining height for chairs, and the two are not interchangeable. A coffee-height table in front of a corner sofa is the common arrangement and the most comfortable for warmth, since the flame is at the level of people's legs. A dining-height fire table lets you eat round it, but the flame is then between the plates, so check how much usable surface is left.

Where the gas bottle lives

This is the detail that decides whether a fire table is easy to live with. Some house the bottle inside the base behind a door, which looks tidiest and means checking the gauge involves opening it. Others expect the bottle to stand alongside, which is less handsome but far easier to change. Either way it needs an upright, sheltered position with air around it, and a hose run where nobody will trip over it. Measure the housing against the bottle size you can actually buy locally.

Siting and safety

Leave clearance above and around the burner, and keep parasols, canopies and planting out of the space over it. On decking or artificial grass, stand it on something heat-resistant. Gas models need ventilation and an upright, sheltered position for the bottle, and the connection is worth checking at the start of each season. Do not leave a lit table unattended, and let it cool before covering it.

Materials and the top surface

The frame is usually powder-coated aluminium or steel, and the top is where the differences show. Concrete and stone-effect tops give the mass that makes a fire table feel permanent, and they take heat without complaint. Sintered and ceramic surfaces are harder to mark and easier to wipe. Aluminium tops keep the weight down, which matters if the table will be moved, and warm up more in direct sun. Whichever you choose, the surface immediately around the burner gets hot in use, so check where the maker intends you to put a glass down.

Care

Use the lid or a cover so rain stays out of the burner and the media, and clear leaves out before lighting. Wipe the top down as you would any garden table. Disconnect the bottle over winter and store it upright somewhere ventilated, never in a cupboard indoors.

Let a fire table cool completely before you cover it, and give the media a chance to dry before the lid goes on, since water sealed in with lava rock is what makes it crack the next time the burner runs. Check the hose and regulator each spring for cracks and replace rather than repair. If the flame ever burns yellow and sooty where it used to be blue, stop and have the appliance looked at rather than running it.