Brick patios 101

A small patio is a great way to make a corner of your yard more usable.  We had a nook full of dying shrubs outside our living room so my husband and I built this small brick patio. It took only 2 days of work, a pick up truck and basic tools (shovel, rake, saw, hammer, tape measure)

Prepare the area
Decide on the rough outline of your patio (stick with all right angles and avoid curves to keep this project simple).   Remove all rocks, shrubs and other barriers.  Then dig the soil out going down about 5-6 inches below the level of the surrounding soil.  Dig out a slightly larger area than your final patio so you have room to work.

Purchase supplies
Measure the perimeter of your area including any cut out areas (as we have around our sprinkler system. Ignore any areas that but up against a wall or sidewalk.  You will need to get enough pressure treated 2x4s to go around this perimeter.

Also purchase many bags of utility sand. I can't recall exactly what we used (maybe 10?), it will depend on how deep you dug out the area and how large your patio will be.  Take your best guess, add 2 bags and hope that you won't have to make another run to the hardware store.

If you're comfortable with a rustic appearance, find all the recycled bricks you can (we had a pile in our yard from a ripped out brick wall). Supplement with store bought bricks.  Or just buy all new bricks.  To estimate how many you need, take the area of your patio (say 10x10 feet so 100 square feet area). Times by 144 (the number of square inches in a square foot) so 14,400 in this example, divide by the approximate area of your brick. My brick is 8x4 inches so 32 square inches so I divide 14,400 by 32 to get 450. I need 450 bricks.  Add about 5-10% because it always takes more than you think.

Layout your patio
Figure out how you want to layout your bricks. We used the basket weave pattern which is super simple and looks great.

Layout 20 or so bricks in a row in the appropriate pattern and measure them. Use this measurement to decide on the exact width of the patio. You don't want to have to cut bricks in half so plan accordingly. Note how our walkway  is exactly 5 "brick pairs" wide? We planned this :)

Now cut the pressure treated 2x4s to length to frame the area of your patio. The top of the 2x4 should be level with the surrounding soil and at the same height you want your patio.  Nail together corners and lay in place.

Prepare to lay the bricks
I think technically you should start with a layer of crushed rock but we were lazy and started with sand to no ill effect. A layer of weed barrier cloth might also be a good idea but we didn't bother. 

Pour in bags of sand, spreading it around as you go. You want the sand to be about 2 inches (the thickness of a brick) below the top of your 2x4 frame.  You may want it a bit higher in the back so the patio slopes away from your house.

Rake the sand into place as evenly as possible, checking the height and adding sand as needed. Now use a scrap of 2x4 to scree the surface of the sand to smooth it out and make it even.  Be sure to tamp down the sand as you work so you have a nice solid surface.

Lay the brick
Starting at the front or most visible part of your patio, start laying the brick.  Incorporate the different styles of brick randomly. If something is a bit out of square, adjust the rows a little at a time; in the grand scheme, you won't see the slightly wider gaps between bricks.

Once all the bricks are in place tamp them down,  pour on more sand and sweep the sand into the crevices. Continue tamping and sweeping until the crevices are full.

Now sweep off the excess sand, back fill around the outside of the 2x4 frame with soil, bring out your patio furniture and enjoy your new patio!

Notes
We live in California where it doesn't freeze. I imagine laying the brick in sand would work in a freezing climate but have no personal experience.  Anyone from the midwest care to share how this would work in colder climates?

I didn't consider the angle of the sun in locating my brick patio and find that I rarely use it because it gets hot, direct morning sun (I wanted to use it as a breakfast patio). Think about where in your yard would be most appealing during the time of day you anticipate using your patio.