A small brick patio provides a spot for you to relax.
If you have a small area in your backyard, you can create a small brick patio for entertainment space. Whether the space is just large enough to hold a barbecue grill or a couple of chairs, you can lay bricks for the patio in a matter of hours. The job does require some digging and physical exertion, but it's not a hard task for a do-it-yourselfer. With all the brick styles available, you can design your own brick pattern to suit your landscaping needs.
Instructions
1. Lay garden hoses on the ground where you plan to lay bricks for your patio. Move the hoses until you come up with patio boundaries that suit your needs. If you don't want to cut bricks, adjust the size of the patio accordingly as you lay out the hoses. You may also lay out the patio with string and wooden stakes if you prefer.
2. Cut away enough sod around the outside perimeter of the patio to allow for the width and thickness of the landscape timbers you are using as edging, using a shovel. Lay landscape timbers around the perimeter of the patio area. Set them so they are level with the ground and square. Hold them in place with pieces of reinforcement bar, or rebar, that you hammer into the ground.
3. Dig out the sod in the center of the patio. Create a level space 7 inches below the surface for the rest of the patio.
4. Cut a piece of landscape fabric the size of the patio, using scissors. Set it on the bare ground and anchor it with landscape pins. The fabric prevents weeds from growing in the patio.
5. Shovel 2 inches of pea gravel into the patio area. Level it. Run a plate compactor over the area to settle the gravel into place. Add another 2 inches of gravel and run the compactor over it as well.
6. Add 1 1/2 inch of sand to the patio area. Level it, using the plate compactor.
7. Lay bricks in the patio area. Use the brick pattern you chose to set the bricks close to each other. Check the area for levelness as you go. If the bricks are uneven, pull them up and rearrange the sand underneath them to make them level. Use the plate compactor over the brick layer to settle the bricks into the sand.
8. Pour sand over the top of the bricks. Work the sand into the cracks with a push broom. Make another pass with the compactor to work the sand into the cracks. Add more sand until the cracks are full.
Tips Warnings
Contact your local utilities and ask them to mark where buried lines are on your property before you dig the base of your patio.
Use a masonry saw to cut bricks to size if necessary.
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