Brick Pathways

Laying a brick pathway adds a level of elegance, beauty, and quality to your property that cannot be attained using asphalt or concrete. They make bricks from fired clay and its primary color comes from the clays natural color. It can be varied using glazes, coatings and other additives. They can also fire brick to have many different color variations while keeping the same tones that appear in one brick. The color of a brick is always permanent. There are many varieties of brick such as smooth or highly textured, which have a rustic, hand crafted look. Although a four-inch thick by eight-inch long by two and a quarter inches high are the standard brick size, there are many other sizes available. Regardless of the style or type of brick you select for your brick sidewalks and pathways, their beauty will leave you breathless.

For a do-it-yourself homeowner, installing brick pathways is possible with some basic knowledge and a brick path and pattern plan, which is not too complicated. The key to installing a sidewalk path or paver of brick is proper preparation of area, by digging out and removing a minimum of a foot of clay soil and topsoil. Place string lines on both sides of the site of your new brick path to indicate the height of your finished walkway. Lay down at least three-quarter inches of gravel and top with two or more inches of either stone dust or sand and then tap it down. Be sure that the difference between the string line and stone dust is the bricks thickness. Install your border along both sides of the pathway to help maintain the shape and integrity of the walkway. You can also use plastic strip borders with galvanized nails a foot long, which are available at local home improvement stores.

Start laying your brick in the pattern you selected being sure that each brick interlocks with the next by staggering each row by half a brick. Purchase a paver/brick splitter for bricks that require cutting. Once completed, add sand to build up the outside edges of your brick pathway, cover this with topsoil and grass seed and pack firmly. Spread stone dust or sand over the completed brick paths and use a broom to sweep it into the spaces between the bricks. Repeat as many times as necessary until you completely fill all the cracks. This helps to prevent weeds from growing between the bricks. Even doing this, the occasionally weeding of brick paths is necessary. Either pull them by hand or use weed killer.