My wife and I live in very rural upper north east of the US. We learned the hard way that concrete eventually crumbles due to the harsh weather conditions (especially the extreme cold).

We are planning on building a smallish rectangular ramada.

At one end of this structure we'd like to have a large fire pit (not a fire place nor chimney to avoid all the cleaning) with a way to reflect the heat back at us.

The general idea here is function. A place to sit outside, stay out of the rain, snow, or sunlight with a large fire that won't be put out by rain or snow.

So, what materials and/or design would you suggest for the fire pit? Do you have any further advice for the ramada?

A drink coaster goes under a glass or cup, and is intended to catch any condensation or spillage from the glass, to protect the tabletop underneath.

But most coasters are flat.* Any liquid that gathers on them can roll off the edges onto the table. Some coasters are made of a water-absorbing material, like cardboard or cork, but some are made of materials that repel water, like metal or ceramic or plastic.

I ask this because I recently discovered a small coaster-like tray with an upraised lip around the edge. Strictly speaking, it's not a coaster, but it's exactly the right size to be used as a coaster - and, with the upraised lip around the edge, it actually prevents liquid from escaping onto the table.

So why are coasters flat?

(I bought some of the lipped not-coasters to use as coasters. This design makes sense to me. And they happen to look nice as well.)

* It was only while researching coasters online prior to making this post that I discovered that some coasters have lips. Every coaster I've seen in real life is flat.