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Brick Porch and Walkway

The Goal: Completely brick the front porch, remove the ailing sidewalk that winds down and around from the porch to the driveway, and replace said sidewalk with brick, too. And try not to spend too much money doing it.

Biggest Challenge(s)
• I’d never done brickwork.
• Mother Nature – Rain. Rain. Rain. (This would be a recurring theme for much of the summer of 2008.)
• Injury: A freak accident severely smashed my middle finger, rendering my left hand virtually useless for about two weeks.
• The sidewalk. I couldn’t finish out the front of the porch OR start the walkway without first removing the sidewalk. Five-inch thick sidewalk about 24-30 inches wide and curving about 30 feet out to the driveway. I managed to swing a 14-pound sledge and yield a pickax – in 100-degree heat – and started doing this. That part of the job lasted for most of two days (days of about 12 hours work each).

Greatest Sense of Accomplishment
This project got a LOT of attention, some I could have lived without, but mostly many, many compliments. A year later, those compliments are still coming. The total cost was between $900 and $1,000. The total ROI though, in compliments from everyone who has seen it both live and on the blog, and just the way it has changed the look of the house, is priceless. It looks like it has always been there which is exactly what I’d hoped for.
And I get to enjoy it every time I leave or come home.

Tips
• Do the proper prep work. Conventional wisdom says you should put bricks down on a bed of 3-4 inches of gravel topped by 2-3 inches of sand. Be prepared to DIG to accommodate all this underlay. (Unless you’re doing directly onto existing concrete. Then, lay directly on a ½ to 1-inch bed of mortar and sand mixed.
• If your area is prone to harsh winters, you might not want to brick directly over an existing concrete slab. Same holds true if that slab is in rough shape. (That’s why I chose to remove the sidewalk.) A good portion of our porch is covered and the rest benefits from the thickness of the slab.
• This is a spring or summer project. Ideal for 70-80 degree days and not below 50 at night. If it’s very hot (90ish or above) when you do this, mist down the concreted area every few hours to keep it damp. Keyword here is MIST.
• Don’t use too much water. After you’ve swept a concrete/sand mix into the joints, water it down. Be careful though. You don’t want to wash it away!

Project Gallery

  • Just a plain concrete base -- BEFOREJust a plain concrete base -- BEFORE
  • The first few rowsThe first few rows
  • Getting closer to the edge!Getting closer to the edge!
  • The whole porch is coveredThe whole porch is covered
  • Yep that sidewalk HAS to goYep that sidewalk HAS to go
  • The beginning of the walkway and a look at some of the tons of gravelThe beginning of the walkway and a look at some of the tons of gravel
  • Because of all the rain I had to keep it covered or else work inside a mudpitBecause of all the rain I had to keep it covered or else work inside a mudpit
  • Ta-done!Ta-done!
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