How to Use Salvaged Building Bricks for Sidewalks

Locate underground utilities by having your local utility company mark their location in your yard. Mark the location of these lines as well as the location of any sprinkler systems near or crossing your new sidewalk location. You should move any in-ground sprinklers before digging.

Drive stakes into the ground showing the location of the sidewalk. Your stakes should be 6 inches beyond the finished width of the future sidewalk to allow for the installation of edging materials. Use twine to establish the grade, level or slope of the sidewalk. Tie the twine to the stakes. In most cases, you will want the sidewalk to be nearly level. There should be a slight slope to run water away from the house and toward your drainage system.

Dig the lawn out 9-inches deep using a shovel. Make your grade slightly higher or lower at this point to correct for grade problems in your yard. If you have buried utility lines, locate the lines by digging with a hand trowel. Lower the lines to beneath the lowest point in the pathway by clearing the soil beneath the lines. Be careful not to cut the lines by using larger shovels or tools.

Line the excavated pathway area with a thick stabilization landscape fabric. This will keep the gravel separate from the underlying soil. Spread 2 inches of Class II gravel over the fabric. Your local home store or soil and rock store can deliver gravel in bulk. It is generally dumped on the driveway or at a location convenient to your driveway. You may need to move it to the sidewalk site using a wheelbarrow. Spread the gravel evenly with a heavy rake or board.

Rent a compactor machine from the home store and compact the gravel onto the fabric. Start along the perimeter and work your way toward the center keeping the machine level as you compact the stones. Go over each layer with four passes of the compactor. Add another layer of gravel and compact the walk again.

Place two pieces of 1-inch pipe, one on each side of the walk. These will act as a guide for your last layer of gravel. Position your higher pipe (the pipe closest to the house) first. The pipe should be level and 2 3/4 inches below the top finish grade of your brick sidewalk. Place the pipe along the outer edge of the gravel. Position the second pipe 1 inch lower on the opposite outer edge of the gravel. Make sure it is level.

Fill your excavated area with the remaining gravel and drag a 2-by-4-inch board along the pipe (this is called a screed) to level out the gravel. Compact your top layer of gravel four times. Place your pipes on top of the compacted gravel. Fill the excavated area with coarse, washed sand. Screed the sand level.

Position your bricks in the pattern you desire. If the bricks are uneven in size, add or remove small amounts of sand under individual bricks to keep the tops flush. Bricks can be cut using a masonry chisel and hammer or by using a wet saw.

Remove excess sand along the sides of the new pathway. Insert paver edging snug against the outside bricks. Hammer stakes into the edging every 12 inches to hold the edging securely. Be careful not to hit any of your buried lines with the stakes.

Tie a piece of scrap carpet to the bottom of the compactor to prevent chipping the edges of the bricks. Compact the perimeter bricks first and then move to the center. Broom fine sand over the bricks before compacting the bricks three more times. The fine sand will go between the bricks and lock them in place.