How to Lay Brick on Sand

Decide on the area on which you want to install your brick patio. Mark the perimeter with spray paint. Remove all grass from the marked area. Dig the section to the correct depth throughout. Typically, five inches is a good depth to use for a brick patio.

Tamp down the ground with your hand tamper until you have a flat, solid surface to work with. Drive four stakes at the corners of the hole you dug. Put a mark on each stake, at an inch above ground. Run a line between all four of the stakes around the perimeter of the hole.

Stand bricks on end around the perimeter of the hole. Pound the bricks with a mallet into the soil until their tops line up with the string running around the exterior. Set one brick against another until you have created a uniform edge around the patio.

Roll out landscaping fabric along the interior of the hole. Overlap the edges of the fabric by more than three inches to ensure that plants will not grow through the barrier.

Measure the thickness of one of your bricks, and the distance between two parallel edges of your hole. Cut notches out of a two-by-four slightly wider than the brick edges, and as deep as the thickness of one of the bricks. Put the notches at either end of the two-by-four so that the two-by-four will fit over the brick edging at either end of the hole.

Fill the hole with sand, spreading it as evenly as possible with your shovel. Run your two-by-four along the brick edging, to smooth the sand to a nice, flat level. Add more sand if there is a section that the two-by-four does not touch.

Lay the bricks inside your hole and tap them snugly into place. Be sure the bricks are in line with the edges. Push each brick firmly against the last, and lightly drive it into place with your mallet. Alter your brick pattern so that all seams between the rows of bricks do not line up. This will create a stronger structure.

Pour sand onto the set bricks and sweep it into the crevices between them. Spray water onto the bricks and give the sand a day to set. Sweep more sand into the crevices and wet it again. Continue this process until there is no room for additional sand.