[secondnature]

hi there...i am working with a client that wants to utilize brick in the backyard of her historic home.

This will include possibly brick patios and a two-tiered brick planter for a vegi/herb garden.

In using brick for flooring, is it mandatory to use mortar between bricks, or can a person acheive a smooth surface just doing a dry lay? I will be using new brick material that is conforming in size and shape.

For the raised bed, it will be positioned right up against the house. There is a tall crawl space right behind where it will go that is currently open, with beams exposed.

To do this right, would it be better to build this brick structure completely independent of the building (a four sided structure)? If so, then we could enclose the crawl space with 2 x wood material. When constructing something like this, is it better structurally to build an infrastructure (like, cinderblocking) and then attach brick to it? Or, typically is mortared brick standing alone stable? The bed itself is about 3 1/2 feet tall at the back, coming down to about 18 inches or so at the face (good seating height). The length is approx 15 feet long. With two tiers it will be about 4 feet in depth (coming out from wall). I do want to have a deeper brick ledge on the lower tier for seating.

Any pro advise??

Thank you

[mrusk]

You could dry lay the brick or wet lay them. It all depends what look and how much $ the client is willing to spend.

[Malrex]

I only have 3 months of hardscaping experience, so take this with a grain of salt.

On a project I helped on, we layed brick for the "sidewalk" all around a bank (pretty large project). We dry laid them. But working with brick sucked in my opinion due to the brick being irregular in shape. There were large cracks between the bricks, we had several break when we tamped them in (even with plywood on top), there were many areas where we had to try and fix due to them not laying flat enough, and the finished project looked ok, but one of those projects that you walk away from dissatisfied.

However, the brick we used isn't made anymore (the bank really wanted this certain type and had to special order it)...so I don't know what type of bricks are out there now as I don't do hardscaping anymore.

Anyways..yes, you can dry lay them, but don't expect it to be a smooth process.

[secondnature]

Thanks Malrex....I have wondered about that. I did see in a publiation some dry laid brick, and it looked nice, but I can imagine hard to lay and difficult to get the results you want. My client is pretty formal in taste, wanted bricj, and I know that taking the extra step to mortar is more $$.

thanks

Originally posted by Malrex
I only have 3 months of hardscaping experience, so take this with a grain of salt.

On a project I helped on, we layed brick for the "sidewalk" all around a bank (pretty large project). We dry laid them. But working with brick sucked in my opinion due to the brick being irregular in shape. There were large cracks between the bricks, we had several break when we tamped them in (even with plywood on top), there were many areas where we had to try and fix due to them not laying flat enough, and the finished project looked ok, but one of those projects that you walk away from dissatisfied.

However, the brick we used isn't made anymore (the bank really wanted this certain type and had to special order it)...so I don't know what type of bricks are out there now as I don't do hardscaping anymore.

Anyways..yes, you can dry lay them, but don't expect it to be a smooth process.

[PaverDrew]

Of course you can. Check out the Brick Institute of America, BIA. There are differing types of brick, from hand molded that vary in tolerances to machine molded that are as exact as concrete pavers, with spacers and all. Installtion is the same as laying pavers, crushed aggregate base, sand setting bed, etc. Some open space due to bricks not being uniform may be appealing or appropriate for some situations. Do some perusing andf sell that job!

[secondnature]

If mortar is used, the base needs to be cement, correct?

Is that where the additional cost is....aside of course for the mortar?

thanks!!

Originally posted by mrusk
You could dry lay the brick or wet lay them. It all depends what look and how much $ the client is willing to spend.