How to Lay Brick or Stone Outside Your Sunroom Door

Brick

• 1

  Level the area where you will place the bricks with a round-point shovel. Do this by removing any high spots and filling in any low spots.

• 2

  Arrange the bricks in the desired shape of the step or pad. Insert a trowel into the soil around the outside edge of the bricks to mark the shape of the excavation. Remove the bricks.

• 3

  Remove the grass and dirt inside the trowel marks to a level 1/2 inch deeper than the depth of the bricks. Use a square-point shovel to make the sides and the bottom of the excavation straight and level. Check the bottom of the hole with a level to ensure it is flat and even.

• 4

  Fill the excavation with 1/2 inch of sand. Use a rake to smooth the sand and a level to ensure the surface of the sand is level.

• 5

  Arrange the bricks in the hole. Cover the bricks with sand. Place the spray nozzle on the garden hose and water the sand in with a light spray of water. Apply more sand and water it in also. Repeat this process until the sand is even with or slightly higher than the top of the bricks.

• 6

  Allow the sand to dry overnight and sweep away the excess sand with a broom.

Stones

• 7

  Level the ground as described in the first step of the previous section. Lay out the paving stones as desired.

• 8

  Stick a trowel into the ground around the outside edges of the stones to mark the shape of the excavation. Remove all but the thickest stone.

• 9

  Mark the shape of this stone by sticking a trowel into the ground around the outside edge. Remove the stone, placing it to the side where you can see it with its bottom side up.

• 10

  Dig out soil inside the shape you marked, to a level 1/2 inch deeper than the stone. Dig the hole deeper where the stone is thicker and shallower where the stone is shallower, referring to the stone as a guide.

• 11

  Place the stone in its hole and repeat the process for all the other stones. When you finish, the top of the stones should be level and 1/2 inch below the desired level of the doorstep.

• 12

  Remove the stones and fill the excavation with a layer of 3/4-inch-deep sand in all places. Replace the stones and fill the cracks with sand, as described in Steps 5 and 6 of the previous section. Allow the sand to dry overnight and sweep away any excess.