Steps in Making a Brick Sidewalk

A sidewalk does more than provide a walking path through the yard; it adds to the curb appeal, enhancing the front of your home. Many materials are used for sidewalks, but few are as tried and true as brick. Bricks are strong, uniform in shape and have just enough color variation to add interest without being an overpowering feature. Although it may seem complicated, you can design and build your own brick sidewalk in one weekend.

Measuring tape
Wooden stakes
Rubber mallet
Twine
Scissors
Spade shovel
Heavy rake
Crushed stone
Tamping tool
Sand
Bricks
Broom
Garden hose

Instructions

- 1
  Place a row of bricks on the ground at the point where the sidewalk will begin. Measure across the bricks to determine the width of the sidewalk. Drive a stake into the ground on the left and right side of the row of bricks with a rubber mallet. Remove the bricks.
- 2
  Measure the length of the sidewalk by your preference. Many bricks are 4 by 8 inches. Determine the number of bricks you need for the sidewalk by multiplying the length of the sidewalk by the width, then multiply that number by 5. Buy 5 to 10 percent more to account for damage and adjustments. Drive two stakes at the end of the sidewalk space, parallel to the stakes at the beginning of the sidewalk.
- 3
  Tie the end of the twine to a stake. Pull the twine along to the next stake, wrap it around two or three times and move to the next stake. Continue until you have wrapped the perimeter of sidewalk area with twine. Tie the twine to the last stake and cut it.
- 4
  Remove soil inside the twine guidelines to a depth of 8 inches using a spade shovel. Rake the soil in the trench with a heavy garden rake to break apart the lumps and smooth the surface.
- 5
  Pour 3 inches of crushed stone into the trench and distribute it evenly with the rake. Compress the stone into the soil with a tamping tool, which is a metal rod with a wide metal plate on the bottom. Hit the stone repeatedly with the tamping tool, moving from one end of the trench to the other.
- 6
  Fill the trench with sand and distribute it with a rake. Rake the surface only; don't disturb the crushed stone at the bottom of the trench. Compress the sand with the tamping tool.
- 7
  Set the first row of bricks at the beginning of the sidewalk. Butt all bricks against each other. Lay bricks out evenly from the first row of bricks in a running bond pattern, which is equal rows with no overlap design. Compress the bricks into the sand with the tamping tool.
- 8
  Cover the bricks with a thick layer of sand. Brush the sand over the bricks in all directions with a broom, filling the crevices. Spray the sidewalk with a garden hose to help the sand settle between the bricks.

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