Brick Walkways

Published by: Tim Manson
Published on: 2010-01-10 15:26:13

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. And nothing sums up this notion better than the first time someone approaches your home. Think how many times your opinion of someone’s home has been affected, positively or negatively, by the look of the features outside. If you’re visiting friends for the first time and you have to step around torn up pieces of walkway, or avoid brush (or worse yet prickers) as you head towards the door, the first thing you’re thinking is probably not going to be “I bet the inside is great.” It would be very easy, and likely, for you to carry your negative thoughts right into the house with you and have those thoughts be the ones that you’re talking about on the car ride home.

To prevent your guests from having these thoughts, one might consider some simple, but aesthetically magnificent solutions. They include upkeep of one’s shrubbery and building a brick walkway that is functional, as well as dazzling.

Clearly, the easiest part of this job is to keep your shrubbery in check. No one wants to dodge a branch as they head towards a front door. Not a visitor, not an owner. So keep everyone happy by keeping things neat and symmetrical.
 Once the pruning is completed, you can move on to making your walkway safer and more pleasing to the eye. The easiest way to accomplish this is by building a brick walkway. Brick walkways can provide a homeowner with a professional look, and the bragging rights to say they did it themselves. Of course, bricks come in all different colors and can be put into any design the homeowner wishes. So while there are some steps that are universal in creating a walkway, there are also parts where you can get creative and have a little fun.

To create a brick walkway, you first need to outline the area you plan to use with spray paint or tape. Then you’ll need to dig out the grass and dirt in that area. Dig based on your soil and drainage. If your yard has good drainage, you may need only to dig an inch or two. If not, you may want to dig about 6 inches of depth. Once you’ve dug out the area, pour in about one to three inches of ¾” gravel. (Of course, you could use cement, but gravel is the easier of the two jobs.) After the gravel, pour in a layer of sand (about an inch’s worth) to support the bricks. Next, set up an edge around the outside of the proposed area. Use string or some bender board to create this outer layer.

The next step is to lay down your bricks. You can purchase many different kinds of bricks; different sizes, colors, etc. And, as mentioned above, you get to decide the pattern for your walkway. So do some research, take a look at some pictures of completed walkways and decide which pattern would best fit your home, and your personality.

After you’ve laid down the bricks, you again have a choice between using cement and using sand. Since we’ve started with sand, we’ll continue down that route, but the process is basically the same for both. Fill the cracks in between the bricks with builder’s sand and then hose it down lightly to settle the sand in. Fill again and repeat. Do this until you have some excess sand above the bricks and sweep that away. If, in the future, the loose sand starts to sink below the bricks, simply add some more and repeat the process.
 Building a brick walkway will do wonders for your home’s look, feel and value. It can be done in a reasonable amount of time for a reasonable price. And the real upside is that you can view your new walkway with a sense of accomplishment knowing your efforts produced such a fine, quality end product.

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