When crossing your muddy yard to pick up the newspaper turns into an obstacle course of slips, maybe it’s time to literally consider an alternate route. How about taking a weekend to build a brick walkway? The formal pavers will not only provide a clean and sturdy lane for visitors approaching your front door, but they will also add style to your landscape and value to your home.
Creating a successful path that can survive the elements depends on three things: the bricks, the border and the base. For the bricks, choose those rated for severe weather, often called “clay pavers.” These will not only withstand the seasons but will also take a lot of foot traffic without cracking.
Brick size
The size of the bricks is partly determined by the pattern you choose. Modern “modular” bricks measure 8 x 4 inches, and a well-designed walkway is between 3 and 4 feet wide. There are also old fashioned “standard bricks”, the length of which is more than twice ¼ inch apart – the closer the better.
Brick Walkway Border
An integral part of each pattern is the border that holds the bricks in place. Temporary 1×4 guide rails can hold everything in as you lay the bricks. But you still need a permanent border, traditionally created from end-to-end bricks.
If placed on their short ends, they can be buried deep enough to provide the necessary support.
Turn on their long edge, but as with the Colonial Williamsburg pattern shown in this process, the bricks will not have enough purchase in the ground to hold the path together. In that case, you need to hold everything in place with garden edging that extends at least 6 inches below the slope.