How to Build a Red Brick Driveway

Mark out the edging of the driveway with string and small stakes. Measure from side to side to make sure you are working with a consistent width. Design the width of your driveway so you don't need to cut bricks along the sides. The standard red brick size is 4 by 8 by 2 1/4 inches.

Remove 8 inches of the surface soil, either with shovels or a tractor, depending on the size of your driveway. Since you will not be using the soil for this project, set it aside out of the way of your work. Pull up any rocks or sticks that may be sticking up from the bottom of the base.

Use a tamping machine to tamp the soil into an even and hard surface. You can use a pole tamper if your driveway is small, but manually tamping is physically tiring.

Place a ring of red bricks around the perimeter of the driveway to act as the support for the bricks. Stand them upright against the soil along the sides of the base.

Drop 4 inches of 3/4-inch or smaller crushed rock into the base of your driveway. Use a landscaper's rake to smooth the stones out until they are level. Drag a long piece of lumber across the surface of the stones to make sure they level out, but try to create a slight slope away from your house. Tamp the rock layer down firmly.

Spread landscape cloth over the rocks to keep sand from washing out during rainstorms. The cloth needs to drape over the surface of the rocks and then up the sides of the base. Leave the excess to trim later.

Pour in 2 inches of sand to act as the cushion for the bricks. Smooth it out in the same way as you did the gravel, still keeping a slight slope away from your house.

Install the red bricks. Start at one corner and press them firmly in place, butting each brick against the next, using a rubber mallet to push them in place against the outer ring of bricks. After a section is completed, place a piece of plywood down over the bricks for kneeling on as you work.

Dump a pile of sand on top of the bricks and use a push broom to push and pull the sand into the cracks between the bricks. Remove the excess sand.

Cut away the excess landscape cloth with a pair of scissors, trimming it down below the surface of the bricks.

Rinse off the driveway with a garden hose set to a light spray to settle the sand between the bricks. Add more sand if necessary to keep the level of the sand at the top of the cracks.