Brick walkways, properly maintained, add an aesthetic feeling to landscaping like no other building material. The earth installing brick walkwaytones of the brick blend in with any style architecture, and as a bonus, the bricks offer a hard surface for walking, work, and play.

Installing brick walkway - formal or informal in style and design - is easy for do-it-yourselfers mainly because the project can be completed in stages. This is unlike concrete which must be worked on and finished immediately.

Some Tips to Start With

Be versatile when you plan a brick walkway project. If the walkway will meet a patio or terrace or fence, leave an open area between the two. Later, the area can be formed into a raised planting bed or just left as a pleasing grassy area. Also, rather than removing trees or shrubs, build the walkway around them. Each tree or plant will require an open area equal to at least 1-1/2 to 2 feet in diameter. This permits and adequate amount of moisture to reach the roots and enough space to grow.

It is recommended that you make a sketch of your project on graph paper, tracing in trees, shrubs, plantings, fences, walls, patios, and so on. Then determine where the walkway best fits in the plan.

For most beginners, the thought of installing brick walkway can be overwhelming and daunting. This how-to booklet will show that you should feel the exact opposite. You will be guided accordingly with instructions and illustrations to help you with your installing brick walkway project. Just follow this easy-to-follow booklet and it's hard to go wrong.

Topics Covered

  • Design considerations
    • Materials and edging
    • Creating edge patterns
  • All about bricks
    • Building or common brick
    • Face brick
    • Paving brick
    • Firebrick
  • Sand-bed brick walkways
    • Excavating the subgrade
  • Installing edging or forms
    • Temporary forms
    • Pitching the walk
    • Deter vegetation
  • Adding the sand base
    • Crowning the walk
  • Setting the brick
  • Laying brick patterns
    • Laying the basketweave design
    • Three-brick basketweave
    • Two-brick basketweave
  • Filling the joints
    • Sand/mortar fill