Lava Rock Direct
The media that goes in the bowl.
What They Make
Lava Rock Direct, of El Cajon, California, is a wholesale supplier of lava rock. Its site says the rock is mined, cleaned and packaged in the USA, without naming a state or quarry. It sells to businesses, offers custom and private-label bagging, and names hardscape suppliers, fire feature and fireplace manufacturers, and landscape and nursery suppliers among its customers.
The rock comes in six size classes. Small is 1/8 to 1/2 in and medium is 1/2 to 1 in, both in black, red and bronze. Medium gray tumbled is 1 to 2 in, large black is 1 to 2 in, and large gray tumbled is 2 to 4 in. The XL grade is 3 to 9 in, in black and red.
The site lists the rock for gas fire pits, fireplace inserts and fire tables, and also for landscape mulch, pathways, drainage and erosion control. It doesn't list fire glass.
Lava Rock Direct collections, as the manufacturer lists them
Small lava rock
Source- Category
- Lava rock, 1/8 to 1/2 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Black, red and bronze.
Medium lava rock
Source- Category
- Lava rock, 1/2 to 1 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Black, red and bronze.
Medium gray tumbled lava
Source- Category
- Tumbled lava rock, 1 to 2 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Gray, tumbled.
Large black lava rock
Source- Category
- Lava rock, 1 to 2 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Black.
Large gray tumbled lava rock
Source- Category
- Tumbled lava rock, 2 to 4 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Gray, tumbled.
XL lava rock
Source- Category
- Lava rock, 3 to 9 in
- Materials
- Lava rock
- Notes
- Black and red.
Each row links to its source. Checked . Every source is listed under Sources.
How to Tell Their Pieces Apart
Size drives use. As we read the range, the small and medium grades suit the burner bed, and the large and XL grades suit filling volume or landscape work.
Tumbled rock has rounded edges, and standard lava rock is angular. The products page lists the two separately, with the tumbled grades in gray and the standard grades in black, red and bronze.
The site publishes no pounds-per-cubic-foot figure, so this page has no citable weight per bag. Our fire glass calculator returns lava rock in cubic feet for that reason.
Lava Rock Direct says its rock withstands extreme temperatures without cracking or fading and does not create soot or ash in a fire feature. Those are the company's claims, and no certification mark applies to the media itself.
Who It Suits, and Who It Doesn't
Lava Rock Direct sells by the bag and pallet to businesses and quotes by volume and location. We cover it as the reference for what goes in the bowl and as a supplier manufacturers use. A homeowner wouldn't normally buy from it directly.
If you want a reflective, colored look, you want fire glass, and the site doesn't list any.
You may not need to buy rock at all. Several fire features come with lava rock included, for example the Prism Hardscapes Tavola and Moderno models at 27 or 54 lb depending on the model.
Coming to Firepit HQ.
Sources
Each fact and collection on this page links to the page it came from, with the date we checked it.
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