Making a Brick Patio

Jess
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts

I got these unusual old bricks from a friend. I'm fond of them because they say "Pacific" and I've lived in the Pacific NW most of my life. I wanted to use them for something special but I only had 28 bricks. My husband made this little patio off our concrete pad to hold my grill. It's the perfect size and leaves me more space on the concrete for other things. Here is how he did it.

Supplies:

28 bricks
4 bags play or all purpose sand
tools; pickax, shovel, rubber mallet, level, broom

Steps:

First, he pressure washed the bricks and we planned out our pattern. We chose to alternate the bricks, making 4 squares of 8 bricks each. This filled up 6 rows. The 7th row consisted of the nicest bricks facing forward.
He marked out the space needed and removed the top 6 to 8 inches of soil.

Digging out the space to lay the brick patio.

Starting at the corner of the concrete pad, he first placed a couple of inches of sand then the brick. He used a rubber mallet and a level to make sure that the brick was at the right level and in line with corner.

He continued adding sand and bricks, with about a 1/4 inch gap between (he used a tile as a spacer). It was a time consuming process with many adjustments.

After all the bricks were set, he added more sand on top to fill in the cracks. He then swept the sand flat.

He gently used a hose to wet down the sand, avoiding washing the sand out of the cracks. This was repeated a couple of times until the cracks were tightly packed with sand.

We expect that we will need to fix a few of the bricks over time, maybe adding more sand later in the year. It feels very sturdy and perfectly fits my little Weber grill.

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Anonymous

May 9, 20200 found this helpful

This looks so nice! I love the bricks, they remind me of kiln bricks.

Anonymous

May 10, 20200 found this helpful

Well done use of those unique old bricks. This article couldnt be more timely! Ive been planning a small brick pad to go in front of my water hose area. I have a pile of old bricks from the previous homeowner.

Ive placed cardboard weighed down with a few bricks to kill off the grass and weeds over the area. This will make digging the area out easier. Thanks for inspiring me to complete my project!

Jess
Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts

May 11, 20200 found this helpful

My husband said that he would have added gravel under the sand for better drainage if he did it again.

When you finish your project, be sure to share it with us. I bet you will inspire someone too.

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