Correct sand for brick edging?
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4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
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4 years agoUser
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Brick-on-sand patio
Comments (18)Thanks for the many responses. Sorry about the vagueness of the terminology. I was talking about mortar vs. sand when dry laying bricks. We're still in the middle of the project. It's been interesting. Bahia, I'm glad you agree and would not be "inclined to fault someone for not being able to fully explain the process in english." These were not workers we obtained ourselves at a "shape-up" outside Home Depot. The contractor was hired at full-dollar, and these are workers he obtained. And I do fault the contractor for switching crews mid-project and substituting a crew who had an entirely different conception of what the project is. Fortunately, I have many bilingual neighbors who can help with translating. Today we've made it clear we want a 2-inch bed of sand, as promised, and that they will have to dig deeper to accommodate that. Half inch of sand won't cut it. We've hired a lowboy Dumpster to put all the soil and broken concrete in, something the contractor promised to do but reneged on. We do not want them disposing of four 3x3 foot slabs of concrete from an old jacuzzi pad we inherited by BURYING them underneath where the patio is supposed to go, as they were doing yesterday. Just intuitively, that would seem to invite uneven settling of the patio. This was all hashed out before work started with the first crew. The second crew was not properly informed by the contractor and was improvising with disposal of debris, since nobody wanted to cut into their profits by renting a lowboy. So these guys have to dig up the concrete, break it up, and they're piling it up on trees, wherever they can. Do twice the work, in other words. In record 97-degree heat. And they thought 1/2 inch of sand would be OK because where in hell is all that excavated dirt going to go with no lowboy to put it in? Seemed like such a simple job, one we've done many times ourselves, except our backs aren't what they were 20 years ago. We think we're all on the same page. We'll see what happens....See MoreStone edging over a brick border?
Comments (1)i would dry set the new stones, if they had done the same with the brick you could easily repair it now, just lift the bricks, fill and relevel the border. check to be sure that the bricks aren't dry set with mortar on the top layer only. sometimes the bricks are laid in a bed of sand and then a mix of sand and mortar is brushed between the bricks-- this hold the bricks/sand more firmly in place, but can easily be removed and repaired. diggerb...See Morebrick edge
Comments (4)FWIW the rick-rack edging is fine anywhere I'm not likely to trip or kneel on it while I'm working. Maybe at the top of a wall (lol). If you were using the bricks as a mowing strip before, and you're fairly sure that the shape of the garden is what you want, you could, perhaps, install concrete mowing strips. I look at them and think, 'How tidy!' but I'm not sure how I'd accommodate the big dumpings of compost that I add, and that change the height of the bed. With the loose bricks I use I can add another course and keep the soil in place. If you weren't as exuberant with the compost - just the usual bucketload for a new plant - then a permanent edge might work well for you. However, if you have a fairly freewheeling style - the bricks do have the benefit of making it very easy to change direction, or track a burrowing weed to its end; something much harder to do when the bounds are fixed. Sometimes laying them on a bed of sand over a well-compacted soil, tamping them down, watering lightly to let them settle, etc, can give you a beautiful edge - until you dig a little close and disrupt the underlying soil. At which point you can end up with a subsidence. If I didn't have better things to do I could consider having a traditional grass edge and cut it neatly when I trim the lawn. Yeah, right!...See MoreApplying polymeric sand to street brick patio and Brock Paver Base
Comments (4)I️ stopped using coarse sand/ washed sand years ago for paver joints because it allows weed seeds to fall between the joints and germinate. If the joints between the pavers are fairly wide, you can expect the pavers to shift out of place if joint sand is not applied and people are transversing the patio. Polymeric sand is definitely the way to go. Do not apply when the edges of the pavers are wet however, because the sand will stick to the sides and may cause a reduced amount to fill the joints and may cause hazing on the paver surface. The biggest issue when applying polymeric sand with wet pavers is hazing or sand sticking to the pavers. Very difficult to remove once that dries. If the patio’s upper surface is dry, considering the size of your patio, I️ would be comfortable applying polymeric sand. You will be getting the sand wet anyway once the sand is swept into the joints. The sweeping should be fairly quick. Just make sure to sweep/ blow off as much of the excess sand as possible, compact the pavers, finish filling the joints and water, water, water in and blow off the pavers according to the manufacturers suggestions so you don’t have an issue with hazing....See MoreUser
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