Pave your driveway with bricks

The secret to paving a brick driveway is in the preparation. To properly install a paved driveway to stand the test of time, you first need to excavate the area to the correct depth, then concrete the subbase to give it the strength it needs to support the weight of the cars. and third, the pavers need to be set on top of a strong mortar mix so that they sit rock-solid in position.

Digging your driveway is best accomplished with the help of a Bobcat or skid-steer loader, especially if it is a large area. You’ll also need to think about what you’re going to do with any digs you remove from your driveway. You may want to pay to have a dumpster delivered to you or have your Skid Steer Loader/Bobcat operator happy to load up your truck and drive to the nearest dump station.

Once this is done, we need to form or box the sides of our driveway in preparation for the concrete. This can be done with pieces of wood and some dowels to hold it in place. Next, we place sheets of reinforcing steel mesh in the area to be concreted, cutting it to size if necessary. Next, we need to calculate how much concrete we need by multiplying the length of the driveway times the width of the driveway times the depth (100mm) of the driveway. This will tell us how many cubic meters to order. Then we have to do it on our driveway, level the concrete and allow it to cure for no less than 24 hours.

To lay pavers, you must first set up the screed rails. Ruler rails are pieces of 30mm square tubing, usually made from aluminum. Place them on the concrete, about 2 meters apart and parallel to each other. These will act as our concrete boxing, they will hold up the sides of our mortar bed. Next we need to mix some mortar, usually in a cement mixer, using a ratio of 4 washed sand to 1 cement and water to suit. You want your mortar mix to be nice and creamy (not wet or dry) there will be some trial and error to achieve the desired mix. Pour the mixture into a wheelbarrow and spread it between the screed rails. Then, using a third furring rail long enough to pass between our two existing rails, we pulled any excess mortar towards us, leveling the mortar at the height of the two parallel furring rails.

Once this is accomplished, you just need to move the rails and repeat the process. You may need to use a paving trowel/trowel to fill any tight corners or indentations created by the rails themselves.

An important rule to remember is to always lay your flooring square in the house, otherwise it tends to draw attention to itself and look unprofessional.

First, make sure your mortar is still fairly wet, then dampen the bottom of the paver with a sponge and place the paver on the mortar bed. Pavers may need to be hammered into position with a rubber mallet. You may want to use multiple lines of thread when laying it down, otherwise the pattern may run off the square.

You will then need to mark any cuts you have with a pencil and cut them with a brick saw. You can rent a brick saw daily at any local rental store.

Finally sweep washed fine sand into the joints filling in any small gaps that may have occurred.

The three important things to remember when paving your driveway are to get the correct excavation levels, concrete down the subbase, and always place bricks/pavers on a mortar base. If you keep these three things in mind and make sure they’re done correctly, everything else will flow from there.