Installing a Brick or Paver Walkway

Written by Mark Donovan


The key to installing a Brick or Paver Walkway is to first properly preparerepparttar area whererepparttar 100009 bricks/pavers are to be installed. The area should be dug out at least a foot down, removing all topsoil and clay soil.

Oncerepparttar 100010 area has been dug down, 3/4" gravel stone should be laid in and tamped down tightly. Then sand, or stone dust should be spread overrepparttar 100011 gravel. Againrepparttar 100012 sand/stone dust should be tamped down. Stone dust is preferred.

Now that you have a stable base, place a 1" pipe or ledger boardrepparttar 100013 length ofrepparttar 100014 walkway on either side ofrepparttar 100015 walkway. Then using a flatedge, e.g. a 2"x4" slide it overrepparttar 100016 two lengths ofrepparttar 100017 pipe/ledger board. In doing this you will create a level surface area to layrepparttar 100018 bricks/pavers.

Now place onrepparttar 100019 level sand/stone dust strips of plastic brick borders. Install a run on both sides ofrepparttar 100020 prepared area. These strips will act as your walkway border and help to maintainrepparttar 100021 integrity and shape ofrepparttar 100022 walkway. You can get these plastic strip borders at most Home Improvement stores such as Home Depot or Lowes. The strips should be anchored down with 12" galvinized nails. You should sink these nails intorepparttar 100023 ground and throughrepparttar 100024 strips every foot.

Once this is done, you can then begin to layrepparttar 100025 bricks/pavers. There are many patterns you can lay. I particularly likerepparttar 100026 Herring Bone pattern. The key to layingrepparttar 100027 bricks/pavers is to ensure that they interlock with each other. Always stagger adjacent rows of bricks by 1/2 of a brick to interlock them. This will again help maintainrepparttar 100028 integrity ofrepparttar 100029 walkway.

Secrets of the Screw

Written by Tim Tulethyme


I often see friends and fellow home-improvers using screws in their DIY efforts, and it never ceases to amaze me how hard some of these people find it to make a simple screw do what it's designed for. lets take a look at why. Ofrepparttar two basic types of screw (Phillips cross head andrepparttar 100008 older 'traditional' slot head)repparttar 100009 Phillips is gaining ground rapidly, due mainly torepparttar 100010 fact thatrepparttar 100011 extra cross-slot means you can apply more force and thus drive it into denser materials. You need both types of screwdriver in your toolbox, because believe you me, nothing ruins a screwdriver faster than using it onrepparttar 100012 wrong type of screw! But what type of screw to use? Let's focus on common plywood for a moment - a material we often use at www.homeimprovementor.com because of its cheapness and versatility. You use number 8 screws for plywood up to 5/8th of an inch thick. Between 1/2 an inch and 3/8ths of an inch, you need a number 6. above that, try a number 4.

To join 2 pieces of wood with a screw, follow these easy steps. Firstly, make a mark where you plan to dorepparttar 100013 screwing. Positionrepparttar 100014 pieces together and fasten with a clamp or your mighty left hand. Depending onrepparttar 100015 job, you may be able to use your body weight thru your knee to holdrepparttar 100016 bits in place. If neither of these methods are practicable, and you intend to sit several screws, userepparttar 100017 first one as an effective 'clamp' by tightening it firm before you startrepparttar 100018 other screws.

Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use