When I lay brick or stone walkways I prep the pathway by by digging down 
about 5-6" and mix in about 10% dry cement, then grade and damp tamp it 
for correct slope or crown to coincide with the drainage topology. Then 
lay the stone or brick on that, adjust for varying thickness, etc. 
Usually sprinkle sweep a mix of sand and cement or lime into the joints 
between the bricks or stones. I havn't done it a lot, perhaps 10 times 
over the years since 1960s. In two cases comparative field testing on 
projects in the 1970s demonstrates that little bit of cement is just 
enough to stabilize the substrate and keep the units from moving much in 
later decades. It's weak enough that tree roots will buckle it up, which 
is what I want. Trees are more important and the substrate and walkway 
can be easily repaired or relaid using the existing materials with just 
a little added cement or lime. Maintenance cycle: 20 years, minimal 
labor since only spot repairs are needed.

When the city relaid a 15 yard section of 1960s brick sidewalk (laid in 
sand) on our street here in portland they placed a 5" slab of concrete 
as substrate. I asked the crew chief what the budget was on it and he 
said, $9-11,000. The fool thing is already busting up after just three 
years with big zig-zag cracks right through the bricks, busting them up 
too so they can't be reused for pavers--just another case of the 
disposable grind-up-the-earth-for dollars economy at work to extract the 
most dollars out of us taxpayers pockets.

Over in front of our house the brick sidewalk has that nice 
"swayzee-curvey" effect that I love. Where the tree-boll and roots have 
buckled the bricks up I took up a section of the bricks to make way for 
the tree. I stacked the 40 or so bricks up out back of the barn and use 
them for repairs. About every 10 years I put an easy half a day into 
maintenance on the sidewalk and it's going great.

Last year my neighbor stood by to watch me work on my sidewalk. He asked 
me why I was doing the work, all I had to do was call public works and 
they'd fix it just like across the street. He's right, we have an 
excellent public work dept,they operate within a reasonable budget, 
always responsive, the workers are always happy, and ready to explain 
what they are up to. I just grinned at my neighbor and said, "Each of us 
has to take personal action every day if we want this world to move in 
the right direction." He walked over to look at the new stretch of 
sidewalk across the street then back over to kicked at a loose brick in 
his walk. This fall he hollered over the fence to ask if he could borrow 
my little trowel and crowbar.

John Bumpin'Bricks Leeke
Portland, Maine, 2008

www.HistoricHomeWorks.com

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