making a patio using old bricks

[Andrew Haughton]

If cleaned up old red bricks are laid on edge onto packed hardcore, is it necessary to use sand and cement in between or is just sharp sand adequate? Also can anyone advise if frost is an issue?

 

[^woody^]

They will not last long (about two winters) before they start to crack, chip and shale.

They are not made for constant damp and traffic

 

[Thermo]

can look nice if you want that look though. best bedded in mortar as they can tend to move over time. If you are going to simply bed them on sharp sand then the bricks at the edges need to be mortered in position to provide a framework to hold all the bricks in.

 

[noseall]

it depends what you want to achieve from the bricks.

if they are old, soft and rather porous then they will degrade over time. they will moss up and attract weeds. but you will still be left with a surface that is intrinsically hard and compact.

certainly better than mud.

 

[Nige F]

Old red rubbers retail@60p each ..ebay then buy nice concrete paviors

 

[gangman]

I dug some bricks out of my garden and used them as a path. I laid them upside down on mortar, on top of scalpings, and recessed the joints. It's been down for about 5 yrs. now and with moss growing in the joints it looks like it's been there for ever.

 

[ModernMaterials]

The word is 'spalling'

common bricks soak up water, which, when frozen, expands and cracks pieces off the front of the face.

this in turn attracts moss , which can act as an insulator to the freezing and might even look nice but could also become slippery.