Backyard Patio

[Canadian]

Need a little help I currently have a brick patio that is very old and needs to be replaced. My wife really likes the look of poured concrete and that is the way i think we are going to go. I plan on extending the patio so we have a bigger sitting area. My question is when i pull the brick up what do I have to do before I put the rebar down and start pouring the concrete. I know that I have to put about two inchs of rock on the part where I am extending it but I was hopping to not have to do much to the part that has the brick on it. Any help would be great.

Thanks

[HayZee518]

the bricks are supported on a sand base. you'll have to dig down at least 5 inches, lay in compacted gravel over the whole area then re-bar.

[Michael210]

reply

Depending on the soild underneath the bricks. You for sure dont want to place rocks where the new concrete is going to go and then have the old concrete sitting on sand. You want to have a nice even base all over. I would place rocks underneath the whole patio.

[BigDon]

I know it may seem alright to leave the bricks in place or just remove them and leave the sand base in place, but it's really not. You'll do yourself a huge favor by removing everything and then laying down a crushed rock base evenly over the entire area. Different types of base materials move different and if you have dissimilar bases, they may move differently and cause your new patio to crack.

I like rebar for lots of things, but if your patio is going to be thin, then I'd suggest welded wire. I've seen a lot of 4" thick patio cracking up due to the lack of reinforcement.

Good luck and post a few pics of your project when you're done!

[Paul808]

Need a little help I currently have a brick patio that is very old and needs to be replaced. My wife really likes the look of poured concrete and that is the way i think we are going to go. I plan on extending the patio so we have a bigger sitting area. My question is when i pull the brick up what do I have to do before I put the rebar down and start pouring the concrete. I know that I have to put about two inchs of rock on the part where I am extending it but I was hopping to not have to do much to the part that has the brick on it. Any help would be great.

Thanks

Hi Canadian,

Since you are in Canada you are probably familiar with Home Depot? They have lot of great resources on their know-how page under the projects category. You should check them out