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September 8, 2009
How to Brick a Patio?
We have a large garden but much of it is concrete. I want to pull out some of the concrete to plant things, but also brick over some of it to make a nice patio. Who does this: a mason? a landscape contractor? Help!
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A landscape contractor would do this however it is not traditionally done on top of concrete. To create my brick patio, my landscaper dug down into the dirt about 10 inches below grade, put in about 6 inches of 3/4 inch rock (large pebbles) and tamped it down. Then he put in about 2 inches of sand and then tamped that down. Then the brick is simply assembled on top of the sand and locked together by additional sand in the cracks. I hope this helps.
Posted by: Juno106 at September 6, 2009 12:55 AM
thank you, juno. is there a landscape contractor you would recommend?
Posted by: balanchinelover at September 8, 2009 9:21 AM
Sorry Balanchine, my guy was a family member who lives out of state. I would check the Garden topics as I have seen recommendations for landscapers before in the forums.
If you are the handy type, you can do it yourself with a couple of people helping. The hardest parts are the excavation and getting all the material into the backyard (rocks, sand and brick)
Posted by: Juno106 at September 8, 2009 9:41 AM
balanchine,
it's a pretty hefty DIY but they do it in detail on a few of the HGTV shows that focus on yards. The process is as Juno described, but there may be some more details help on the hgtv website. if you have helpers and aren't afraid to get your hands dirty, it looks like a weekend's worth of work.
Posted by: CG_ups at September 8, 2009 3:20 PM
Juno - since the concrete is already there, you can certainly brick on top of it. Is it in fairly good shape? Doing a layer of tamped sand on top of the concrete is a good idea. It give the bricks a nice surface to lay on and such (i.e., bricks/pavers won't split because of a bump or unevenness in the concrete)
Posted by: tybur6 at September 8, 2009 3:24 PM
We have done three backyards (one brick, the other pavers) using concrete as a base with concrete between the bricks. No sand involved. It is a waterproof solution and doesn't move or shift. One of them is now over 10 years old and has zero problems. There are many ways to go.
Posted by: LM at September 8, 2009 3:40 PM
I second what tyburg says. The point of digging down the 10 inches as Juno suggests is to create a stable base for the bricks with the aggregate (stones) and sand. If your existing concrete is fairly even, it already creates that base but you will need the sand to sweep in the joints of the brick or pavers. The layer of sand between depends on your concrete's condition. If it's in great shape, you may not need it. You can see a job of pavers being laid over concrete on the Greenwood Heights reno on the Brownstoner site in the entry titled:
Stone and gravel galore: days five and six.
Laying pavers is really easy- it's just heavy work. Wear gloves- it really roughs up the hands. My husband and I have done it a few times. Having the concrete base will make the job go way faster than dealing with the stone base. The one drawback is that it's not permeable and the stone base is much more so. It does help with runoff. As far as getting rid of some of the concrete for planting areas, you can rent a concrete saw to cut the shape for the beds and a jackhammer to break up the concrete you don't want. Just know that cutting curves with a concrete saw is difficult.
Diana
Fun City Design
Posted by: kensington gal at September 8, 2009 3:51 PM
I hope you have some non-paved area in the yard for rainwater. The advantage of the method used by Juno106's contractor is that the brick patio over rock and sand will absorb some rainwater as opposed to sending it straight to the sewer. More hard surface = more runoff.
Posted by: jmcg at September 8, 2009 4:42 PM
We had J&L Landscaping on Caton Ave do a bluestone patio in out backyard. They had to hammer out a lot of concrete and remove it then they did it right pitching away from house with sand below. We loved the quality of their work.
Larry Barberi is the owner 718.438.3199 cell 917.217.2497
Posted by: remyching at September 9, 2009 4:23 PM
i can help if you if you like, im looking for small projects to keep busy.
http://gardentypestudio.blogspot.com/
Posted by: the jibb at October 9, 2009 1:39 AM
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