Install a Brick Patio

Edging stabilizes the borders of the patio. Common options for edging include the following:

Plastic edging is often called “hidden” because it virtually disappears once the pavers are installed and the patio is backfilled. The most common type can be installed with the “ears” — the flap — inside the patio with the pavers resting on them or outside.

Metal “ribbon” edging is nearly invisible when installed. It comes with stakes that you drive through the edging itself. You can attach it after setting the pavers, without having to cut away sod.

Brick or pavers used for the patio can also be used for edging.

Lumber edging — such as redwood or pressure-treated 2x4s — gives the patio a narrow but visible frame. Choose straight boards.

Landscaping timbers made of railroad ties, 6x6s or 4x4s add a rustic touch. Choose timbers carefully; they must be very straight to form a good edge.

Ask a brickyard or local builder which base materials work best in your soil. Typically the base is 4 inches of compactable gravel — also called hardcore or aggregate base — topped with 1 inch of coarse sand. You may need more of either material, or you may need to substitute stone dust and crushed granite.

Buy enough 3/4-inch plastic pipe to span the width of the patio area, spaced 4 to 6 feet apart.

Measure and mark the patio boundaries. You can use long, straight boards as guidelines for a small rectangular patio. For a patio longer or wider than 10 feet, drive a wooden or metal stake at each planned corner and connect the stakes with mason's line.

For square corners, lay a full sheet of plywood at the corner to establish a right angle. Or use the 3-4-5 method: mark the spot 3 feet out on one edge of the planned patio and then mark the spot 4 feet out in the other edge. The distance between the two marks — the hypotenuse of the triangle formed by the two sides — should be 5 feet exactly. For greater accuracy on a large patio, use larger multiples of 3, 4 and 5.

To lay out curves, "charge" a garden hose by attaching closed spray nozzle to the end and then turn on the water. With the hose on the ground, bend it to describe the curve you want. Pour sand or flour over the hose all along its curve, then pull the hose up to reveal a neatly marked curve.

Remove sod. Slice right below the sod with a spade or sod cutter, having a helper roll up the sod as you work. If you have a lot of sod to remove, rent a gas-powered sod cutter, which quickly slices and rolls up sod in one pass. Use the rolled-up sod elsewhere in your yard or compost it.

Excavate. Remove soil — including roots and rocks — to a depth of a paver’s thickness plus 5 inches for the base. Make the walls of the excavated straight, not angled. Cut roots with an axe or reciprocating saw.

• For a small patio or if the soil is easy to move, remove the soil with a spade or shovel, taking care not to disturb the soil below the final excavation depth.
• Consider renting a small earth-moving machine with a scoop if the patio will be large or your soil is difficult to dig.

Dig deeper around the perimeter if you plan to edge with a material thicker than the pavers — such as landscape timber or lumber — so the edging will be flush with the pavers and your yard. Set one or two pieces of the edging in place to check the depth.

Check slope. To make sure the finished patio slopes away from the house for drainage, check the slope by running a taut string from the bottom of the house to the outer edge the patio. At each 1 foot from your house, the distance between the string and excavated area should be another 1/4 inch less.

Tamp. Using a hand tamper or rented vibrating plate tamper (good for larger areas), tamp the excavated area at least twice.

If deep-rooted perennial weeds grow in the area previously, spread heavy-duty weed-blocking landscape fabric over the ground in the excavated area to suppress the weeds. Fabric won't control shallow-rooted weeds that germinate between pavers. Overlap the lip of the excavation by 1 foot all around; you can cut it more precisely later.

Pour small mounds of gravel to weight the fabric in place. Pour gravel into the excavated area to a depth of 4 inches. Spread the gravel using a shovel and metal garden rake.

Working with a helper, use screed board or a long, straight board to screed (level) the gravel. Pull the board along the entire surface, using a sawing motion if the board gets stuck.

Check occasionally to make sure the gravel is at the correct depth. Fill in any low spots, scoop out any high spots and screed the gravel again.

Tamp the gravel thoroughly. Check the level and tamp again.

Plastic. Install hidden plastic edging along the sides adjacent to the house first, with the edging’s ears pointing inward. Hold the edging against a straight board and use a hand sledge to drive spikes through the holes in the ears every 6 inches or so. Check that the edging is correctly sloped away from the house. On the remaining side, install the edging with the ears pointing outward and then cover the ears with soil and sod after installing the patio.

Metal. Because the metal ribbon edging is thin, you can install it after installing the pavers, by tapping it between the soil and pavers.

Brick or pavers. “Soldiers” are set with their edges against the pavers. “Sailors” are set with their faces against the pavers. You can simply install them against the wall of the excavated area or, for greater strength, set them in a bed of mortar.

Lumber. Cut pointed 1x3 stakes about 2 feet long and drive them an inch or so below the top of the 2x4s, on the side away from the patio, to hold the edging in place.

Timbers. Cut timbers with a circular saw and handsaw. Set in place on tamped gravel, check for level and adjust the base as needed. Drill long holes and drive 3-foot-long sections of rebar through the holes and into the soil to hold them in place.

Cut the plastic pipes as long as the width of the excavated area and lay the pipes on the gravel spaced 4 to 6 feet apart. The pipes help you gauge the depth of the sand.

Starting at the middle of the excavated area, cover the gravel and each pipe with sand, using the back of a rake to spread the sand as evenly as possible. Work toward the edges so you don't have to step on the sand. Screed the sand layer with a straight screed board long enough to span at least two of the pipes; use a sawing motion where needed. Fill in low spots and screed again. Repeat until the sand is level. Don't walk on the sand layer; i

f you must kneel on it, place a large sheet of plywood on the sand first.

Pull up one or more of the pipes you can reach easily and carefully fill in each resulting trough. Use a wooden or magnesium trowel to smooth the surface where any pipe was; leave the other pipes buried for now.

Lay pavers
You can lay pavers from the middle outward or from one corner to another. Either way, set each paver straight down into the sand; sliding a paver more than a half inch disturbs the sand base, creating unevenness in the finished patio.

Every so often, place a 2-foot-long 2x8 board across the pavers you have just placed and tap the board with mallet to set the pavers.

When you come close to a buried plastic pipe, pull it up, fill in the trough with sand and smooth the new sand with a trowel.

Cut pavers
You'll probably have to cut some pavers; how many depends on the pattern you chose. Cutting pavers with a hammer and chisel is difficult. Make your job easier by taking several passes at the cut line with a grinder or circular saw fitted with a masonry blade before breaking the paver with a hammer and chisel.

If you have to cut a lot of pavers, rent a wet-cutting masonry saw. Set the saw’s guides so you cut all pavers to the same size. Always keep water running over the blade so the blade doesn't get dull.

Fill joints and tamp
Pour fine sand over the pavers and edging and sweep the sand into the joints with a push broom. Tamp the entire patio surface, pour in more sand, sweep the sand into the joints and tamp again.