Bricks, Masonry, Asphalt and Concrete - Curved Brick Path?
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Wasabi1313
12-01-03, 09:51 PM
Hi,
My church is considering building a labyrinth (meditative path) on its property. I've been looking at possible materials and I was wondering if brick might work.
Is there a way to create a cost efficient and material efficient curved brick path? We're looking at something like 250 feet of path and trying to use concrete with all of that brick, or lining wood up against the path seem awfully tedious.
Any suggestions? is this at all feasible?
Thanks
My church is considering building a labyrinth (meditative path) on its property. I've been looking at possible materials and I was wondering if brick might work.
Is there a way to create a cost efficient and material efficient curved brick path? We're looking at something like 250 feet of path and trying to use concrete with all of that brick, or lining wood up against the path seem awfully tedious.
Any suggestions? is this at all feasible?
Thanks
chfite
12-02-03, 06:41 AM
For brick, you can lay them dry.
http://doityourself.com/brick/mortarlesspaving.htm
This is a project that requires a lot of labor, but is certainly a DIY project that can save a lot of money from labor expenses avoided. This could be done in stages. A walk 250 feet by 3 feet would take about 3400 brick pavers which sell for about $.30 each around here. There are many ways to make the retaining border for brick. One that I like is strip of plastic that is attached to the ground with landscaping spikes. It curves easily. With prudent adjusting of the pattern of bricks, cutting can be reduced. One nice thing about dry laid brick is not having to use cement mix or mortar to finish the job.
A nice gravel path is pretty, but can be difficult for some people to navigate safely.
Concrete would require a fair amount of preparation to the same general extent and the construction of forms. There is some skill associated with constructing forms, but it is not out of the realm of DIY.
The same walk would take about 7.5 cubic yards of concrete. Of course, this would have to been poured and finished in one fell swoop. So the whole walk would have to be done at one time. Mixing your own concrete for a project of the scale is extremely tedious and takes a lot time. Getting the mix just right can be tricky. A bad mix will create a walk that may well fail in the short term. Not an effective use of time and money. Using a typical 2/3 cubic foot bag of sackcrete would require 300 bags to be moved, hauled, mixed, and poured.
Dry laid walks can be repaired more readily than poured concrete. There are many different styles of bricks for paving. The standard red, brick paver is about the least expensive one for the task.
Hope this helps.
http://doityourself.com/brick/mortarlesspaving.htm
This is a project that requires a lot of labor, but is certainly a DIY project that can save a lot of money from labor expenses avoided. This could be done in stages. A walk 250 feet by 3 feet would take about 3400 brick pavers which sell for about $.30 each around here. There are many ways to make the retaining border for brick. One that I like is strip of plastic that is attached to the ground with landscaping spikes. It curves easily. With prudent adjusting of the pattern of bricks, cutting can be reduced. One nice thing about dry laid brick is not having to use cement mix or mortar to finish the job.
A nice gravel path is pretty, but can be difficult for some people to navigate safely.
Concrete would require a fair amount of preparation to the same general extent and the construction of forms. There is some skill associated with constructing forms, but it is not out of the realm of DIY.
The same walk would take about 7.5 cubic yards of concrete. Of course, this would have to been poured and finished in one fell swoop. So the whole walk would have to be done at one time. Mixing your own concrete for a project of the scale is extremely tedious and takes a lot time. Getting the mix just right can be tricky. A bad mix will create a walk that may well fail in the short term. Not an effective use of time and money. Using a typical 2/3 cubic foot bag of sackcrete would require 300 bags to be moved, hauled, mixed, and poured.
Dry laid walks can be repaired more readily than poured concrete. There are many different styles of bricks for paving. The standard red, brick paver is about the least expensive one for the task.
Hope this helps.