A Good Walk

Laying a brick path is labor intensive but not complicated. Here’s how a DIY couple got professional results. (See the property starting on page 24.) Leaving footprints in the new snow from her front door to the site of a planned garden gate, Jill Chase took advantage of a Connecticut winter’s day to map out a brick walk. Envisioning a tall planter as a focal point near the entry, she included a small jog around it in the path near the porch.

Jill and her husband, Bill Ticineto, later selected bricks to lay in a Flemishbond pattern. Experts recommend using hard-fired paving bricks in good condition, either new or salvaged. (Remnant bricks found on the property may or may not qualify; test one to see if it crumbles or chips easily when tapped with another brick. Do not use face brick.)

As a design medium, brick is flexible; consider a variety of patterns before settling on running bond, basketweave, herringbone, or a more elaborate choice. To visualize the finished walk, lay out patterns on paper or with actual bricks. Once you’ve settled on a laying pattern, plan the whole walk on paper. Use the brick dimension plus joints to determine the width of the path, which should be visually pleasing for the site and minimize brick cutting and waste. (A minimum functional pathway width is 24"; 36" is typical, and you need a minimum of 48" for two people to walk or pass, as to a front door.) Use actual bricks to lay out a section, to make sure the anticipated width accommodates mostly whole bricks and that any cut bricks are balanced on either side. Smaller pieces of broken or imperfect bricks can be used to fill the row ends where the pattern meets a single-brickwide border.

To estimate the number of bricks you’ll need, multiply the square footage of the walk by five (the approximate number of common bricks per square foot). Then estimate number of bricks for the border: calculate linear feet and divide by the size of the brick exposure as laid. Add about 10 percent more for breakage.