Articles By Syndicated Columnist
Dan Thomas
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Improvement Inside And Out
Installing Brick Or Paver Walkways
Bricks and Pavers will add quality and elegance to a home entrance that
you will not get
from concrete or asphalt.
Due to the many colors and shapes of Bricks and Pavers you can
achieve unique patterns and color schemes. If you have a little bit
of knowledge and a plan this can be a DIY project.
The first thing is mark out where you walkway will go. Place string on
both sides to mark out the walkway. This string will be your guide as to
how high your walkway will be when finished.
You must properly prepare the walkway where you intend to install the
bricks or pavers. start by digging the walkway at least a foot down. be
sure to remove all topsoil and clay.
Okay we have laid the string on each side and dug down at least a
foot and removed the soil now you need to lay down 3/4" gravel
stone and tamp it down tightly
Add 2" of sand or stone dust and be sure to spread it over the gravel
stone. Next tamp down the stone dust Height between the tamped down sand
and the string line should equal the thickness of the brick or paver.
Now you need to level out the area where the bricks or pavers will go.
Use a 1' pipe or ledger board the length of the walkway and place on
either side of the walkway. Now take a flat edged board for example a
2" x 4" board and slide it over the two lengths of the pipe or
ledger board. In so doing you will level out your work area.
Place on the sand/stone dust strips of plastic down the length of the
walkway on both sides. the strips will help to maintain the shape of your
walkway. Anchor down your strips with 12" galvanized nails to insure
no rust. Do this in 12' intervals.
Now it is time to lay your bricks or
pavers. The key is to make sure
they interlock correctly with each other. You will have to stagger your
bricks by 1/2 a brick to interlock them. this will again help in
maintaining your walkway.
To simplify the cutting of the bricks or paver purchase a brick
splitter. This is basically a chisel with a wide end that is the
width of the brick or paver. Lay the brick/paver in a bed of sand and
place the chisel at a 75 degree angle where you want to break the
brick/paver.
Take a good hold of a hammer and strike the end of the chisel.
depending on the brick/paver you may need to repeat this. You can also
turn the brick or paver over and repeat the same procedure on that side.
If you need to curve your bricks paver you will need to rent a wetsaw.
Once you have finished the laying of the bricks take the extra sand and
fill in the cracks between the bricks/pavers and then sweep it off. The
idea of this is to fill in the cracks with sand.
