Tips for Building a Brick Patio
A patio area can be a great addition to any outdoor space. It has the ability to add both style and function to your property, which can increase the value. There are many different materials that you can choose to construct your patio out of, but brick is a preferred option. A brick patio is both simple and elegant, but it also adds a nice contrast of color against greenery. Before you begin building a brick patio in your backyard, you should be aware of tips that are designed to make the process simpler.
Prep
You need to begin by selecting an area in your yard where you want to build the brick patio. It is best to choose a space that is ideal for a rectangular patio design. Creating a rectangular patio out of bricks is so much simpler than a curved design. Once you have chosen the right location, you can begin digging the area to a depth that is required for the brick and sand that you will be laying in addition to the stone or landscape fabric that you will be placing over the ground. The exact depth of the area that you prepare will need to be determined based on the size of the bricks and the amount of sand and stones that you choose to use. You just want to be sure that the brick is leveled once it is laid.
Trial
Once you have the area dug out to the required depth depending on the bricks that you are laying, you can then do a trial run by laying out all the bricks in the rectangular design that you have chosen. This will allow you to make sure that all of your measurements are accurate. There will be a few extra edges on the perimeter, but these edges are reserved for brick edging. Once you have the brick edging in place, you can tap it into place using a rubber mallet to ensure that it is secure. You can then remove all the bricks that you laid down as a trial run and leave only the brick edging in place.
Stone
You then need to add a thin layer of stone into the area where you will be laying the bricks. The stone will act as a barrier to ensure that weeds do not grow through the crevices in your brick patio. Instead of stones, you could also choose to use landscape fabric that you lay over the surface. You can then pour sand over the stone or fabric that you have laid. Make sure that the sand is level. This will allow you to begin pressing the bricks down into the sand. Try to make sure that you are laying the bricks as close as possible to one another. You can use a rubber mallet to make sure that the bricks are being inserted deep enough into the sand. After all of the bricks have been laid into the sand, you can then pour a small amount of sand over the patio area and then work the sand into the crevices using a broom. You can use a hose to allow all the sand to settle into the cracks completely.
If you need help, contact a professional bricklayer.