Rendered Block Corner Bench with Sunken Fire Pit Lounge

MOT Type 1 sub-base

approx. 1.5 tonnes of crushed stone — 100 mm compacted layer under the footings and paving (stable base)

90

Ready-mix concrete

1 m³ of C20 concrete, or 40 × 25 kg cement bags plus 2 tonnes of ballast (strip footing and fire pit pad)

185

Formwork boards and pegs

6 lengths of rough timber 2.4 m × 150 mm × 25 mm plus 20 wooden pegs (edges of the poured footing)

40

Hollow concrete blocks

150 blocks — 390 mm long × 190 mm wide × 190 mm high (134 per take-off: 84 backrest, 32 seat wall, 18 plinth, plus 16 for cuts and breakages)

290

General purpose cement

12 bags of 25 kg general purpose cement (mortar only, at 4 parts sand to 1 part cement with 1 tonne of building sand; the base render is supplied pre-mixed)

130

Building sand

1 tonne bulk bag of soft building sand (mortar for laying blocks)

60

Mortar plasticiser

5 L bottle (makes mortar creamy and easier to lay)

15

Bed joint reinforcement mesh

20 m roll, 150 mm wide galvanised ladder mesh (laid in mortar beds to stop cracking at corners)

30

Fire pit insert

1 bought stainless steel fire bowl or gas burner pan, 50 × 50 cm, to drop into the 52 × 52 cm opening

275

Lava rock and river pebbles

20 kg lava rock (gas burner pan only — never in a wood-burning bowl) plus 25 kg of 30–60 mm rounded river pebbles for dressing the plinth top OUTSIDE the bowl only; never place river pebbles inside a fire, as trapped moisture can make them burst

60

SBR bonding primer

5 L concentrate (brushed on blockwork so render grips)

30

Sand and cement base render

50 bags of 25 kg pre-mixed render (10 mm levelling coat over approx. 33 m² of visible block face)

120

Fibreglass render mesh

2 rolls of 20 m² fibreglass render mesh (40 m², covering approx. 33 m² of base coat with overlaps)

35

Stainless steel corner beads

10 lengths of 2.5 m (crisp external corners on every wall end)

40

White acrylic topcoat render

7 tubs of 25 kg brilliant white acrylic topcoat, 1 mm grain (approx. 5 m² per tub over 33 m²)

120

Thermo-treated ash seat battens

14 lengths of 3.6 m × 90 mm wide × 45 mm thick (50.4 m total, covering the 41 m seat run plus 15% mitre waste)

450

Thermo-treated ash cladding boards

11 lengths of 3.6 m × 90 mm wide × 21 mm thick (39.6 m, covering the 33 m backrest run plus 15% waste)

175

Treated timber bearers

6 lengths of 3.6 m × 70 mm × 45 mm, pressure treated (21.6 m, covering the 14.4 m of bearer runs plus corner cut waste)

50

Treated timber battens

8 lengths of 2.4 m × 45 mm × 45 mm, pressure treated (15 vertical grounds at 600 mm centres over the 8.2 m backrest, each cut to ~400 mm above seat level)

25

Stainless steel screws

200 countersunk A4 stainless screws 5 × 80 mm (seat battens into bearers) plus 150 countersunk A4 stainless screws 4 × 50 mm (21 mm cladding into 45 mm grounds)

50

M8 frame anchors

60 through-bolt frame anchors, M8 × 100 mm (26 for the two bearer runs at 600 mm centres, 30 for the vertical backrest grounds, plus spares)

35

Exterior hardwood oil

2.5 L clear or natural-tone UV oil (two coats on all timber)

45

24 V LED strip

15 m of 24 V LED strip (e.g. 2 reels), IP67 waterproof, warm white 3000 K, 14 W per metre, wired as two parallel runs from the driver

60

24 V LED driver

1 waterproof IP67 24 V driver, 200 W minimum (10 m × 14 W/m = 140 W load; size at least 25% above load)

45

Aluminium LED channel

15 lengths of 1 m surface channel with frosted diffuser (14.4 m seat-nose run around the U, plus offcuts for the mitred corners)

60

Outdoor junction box and cable

1 IP66 box plus 10 m of 2-core outdoor cable and 3 m of 25 mm flexible conduit (safe wiring run)

35

Paving slabs

9 slabs, 600 × 600 × 40 mm, light grey (stepping pads inside and around the lounge)

160

Grey pebble gravel

1 tonne bulk bag of 20 mm grey rounded pebble (ground fill between slabs)

90

Weed control membrane

15 m² woven membrane (covers the full internal lounge floor plus the gravel apron around the outside of the bench)

20

Sharp sand

8 bags of 25 kg sharp sand (30 mm bedding layer under nine 600 × 600 mm slabs, approx. 0.1 m³)

20