I have a nice brick patio that is now too small. Ihave taken on a lot of projects but this one is too large for me and too costly to hire someone to do the job the way the original patio was laid.
I am not a builder so excuse me if I sound foolish.
My thinking is to add to the existing brick patio by putting the slats from my old platic fence down and make the grass level to the existing brick patio.. Then to put down plywood for stability and put brick over it.
Also toyed with rubber covering for a play area for the kids. Any ideas of how to add to this vital outdoor area in an way I can do the work myself. Cost is a factor as is safety:)
Open to ideas and of course criticism.
Thank you in advance:)
Replies
jl
Please don't do according to your plan. It will not work.
The only way to add on to the existing is to do it the way it was done b/4 or in a similar manner that will be stable throughout the changes in the weather and climate.
There are many how to videos as well as print-most paver/brick companies provide detailed drawings and directions.
A suitable base is the key to maintaining a flat stable surface. Don't scrimp on the base.
Best of luck.
You say "brick patio", but
You say "brick patio", but that term covers a multitude of sins.
You could have brick pavers laid on sand, gravel, or even directly on the dirt, you could have pavers laid in a little bit of mortar on a gravel base, or you could have a concrete slab with brick covering it. How you extend the patio will depend on what you have.
The simplest is "loose-laid" (or "dry-laid") pavers on sand/gravel/dirt, and this is the easiest to extend/modify, and well within the abilities of the average DIYer. You would be best advised to find a "book" (one of those magazine-like things sold at a home center) and follow the instructions in it, or find some instructions online that make sense to you. The nice thing about loose-laid pavers is that you can't really screw it up, because you can always take them up and redo it, at only the expense of extra labor.
The others would be harder and take more time/skill/money.
But none of these would employ plywood as an underlayment (except perhaps a temporary patio installed for a wedding or whatever).