Installing a Brick or
Paver Walkway
by Mark J. Donovan
The key to
installing a Brick or Paver Walkway is to first properly prepare the area
where the bricks/pavers are to be installed. The area should be dug out at
least a foot down, removing all topsoil and clay soil.
Once the area has
been dug down, 3/4" gravel stone should be laid in and tamped down tightly. Then
sand, or stone dust should be spread over the gravel. Again the sand/stone dust
should be tamped down. Stone dust is preferred.
Now that you have a stable base, place a
1" pipe or ledger board the length of the walkway on either side of the walkway.
Then using a flatedge, e.g. a 2"x4" slide it over the two lengths of the
pipe/ledger board. In doing this you will create a level surface area to lay the
bricks/pavers.
Now place on the level sand/stone dust
strips of plastic brick borders. Install a run on both sides of the prepared
area. These strips will act as your walkway border and help to maintain the
integrity and shape of the walkway. You can get these plastic strip borders at
most Home Improvement stores such as Home Depot or Lowes. The strips should be
anchored down with 12" galvinized nails. You should sink these nails into the
ground and through the strips every foot.
Once this is done, you can then begin to
lay the bricks/pavers. There are many patterns you can lay. I particularly like
the Herring Bone pattern. The key to laying the bricks/pavers is to ensure that
they interlock with each other. Always stagger adjacent rows of bricks by 1/2 of
a brick to interlock them. This will again help maintain the integrity of the
walkway.
Inevitably bricks/pavers will need to be
cut or split when building the walkway. Unless you want to buy or rent an
expensive wetsaw, I would suggest purchasing a simple brick/paver splitter. It
is basically a chisel with a wide end that is the width of the bricks/pavers. To
actually cut/split the brick/paver, lay it in a bed of sand and place the chisel
at a 75% angle over the spot where you want to break the brick. Then using a
hammer strike the butt end of the chisel firmly. You may need to do this a
couple of times. You may also want to flip the brick/paver over and strike the
other side of the brick using the hammer and chisle. Within one or two strikes
the brick/paver should break cleanly. If your walkway has curves you will need
to buy/rent a wetsaw.
After installing the bricks, build up the
outside edges with additional sand, and then shovel in the topsoil and pack down
firmly.
Finally, spread stone dust over the new
walkway and sweep into the cracks. Repeat this process a couple of times to
ensure the cracks are fully filled. This will complete the interlocking of the
bricks and help to eliminate any weed growth. Just add grass seed to the outside
edges and you should have a beautiful entrance to your home within a couple of
weeks.
Over the past 20+ years Mr. Donovan has
been involved with building homes and additions to homes. His projects have
included: building a vacation home, building additions and garages on to
existing homes, and finishing unfinished homes. Mr. Donovan's formal education
and profession have been as an Electrical Engineer and Marketing Manager. Email
Mr. Donovan at me_donovan@comcast.net
or visit either his website
http://www.homeadditionplus.com or blog site
http://www.homeaddition.blogspot.com.