How to: Brick Flooring
- 1). Measure out the area where you'll be installing the floor, using a tape measure. Remember, traditional brick floors work best in outdoor areas or in garage floors and not inside the home. Simply put, newer building materials cannot support the weight of this type of flooring. After measuring out the floor area in square feet, check your measurement by measuring the diagonal "X" pattern inside the square; the numbers should match up.
- 2). Mark the measurement area's perimeter with wooden stakes hammered into the corners and nylon cording that runs across their tops. This creates a better visual guide to ensure that you're digging straight. Excavate to a depth of no more than 8 inches to ensure that your floor will be level with the walls or soil line. Lay a level across the bottom to verify that you're shaping the bottom of the floor to slope at ¼-inch increments toward the center; this channels water toward the center drain.
- 3). Fill the area with crushed rock until the dug-out area is filled about halfway. Use a tamper to tamp down the stone to make a level "floor" for the bricks to lie on. Lay a sheet of landscaping fabric, cut to the same size as the dug-out area, into the perimeter. This is to prevent soil and plant life from seeping up through the brickwork as it ages. Pour landscaping sand over the sheet to fill up about 2 more inches of depth. Tamp the sand level.
- 4). Mix quick-drying cement as directed by the manufacturer. Lay the first brick into one of the top corners of the perimeter, and use a trowel to scrape some cement onto its inside edging. Lay the next brick flush to the cemented end of the first brick, and tap it with a mallet. Repeat this step to finish off the first line of bricks. Set up a chalk line that runs parallel to the first line of bricks to ensure that the second line is even with the first.
- 5). Repeat Step 6, working across the dug-out area from top to bottom. Once all the bricks have been laid, allow additional time for the cement to dry --- at least a couple of hours. Once it's cured, cut a center area for your drainpipe and cover, using a brick saw.
