The Brew Cabin

Hi, I have a concreted patio with a small drainage channel cut into it and want to make it look more interesting.
Can I lay brick directly on it ( subject to dpc level ) and infil between the brick with gravel?

The short answer is "Yes, but.... "

How are you going to bed the bricks on top of the concrete?

How are you going to 'infill with gravel'? This would require large gaps between the bricks - what's going to hold the bricks in place?

PS - are you the lady I met at External Works earlier this year? The name seems familiar.

Good looking fit and hardworking guy, loves building bricks on concrete floors. available at good rates. :)

Maybe I didnt explain myself properly- Id like to bed in areas of decorative paving on top of the concrete and then fill in the areas not paved with decorative gravel- Is this any clearer?
And no, Tony, I havent had the pleasure of meeting you !
Billybob thingymajig, Ill keep you in mind for my big concrete jobs.

What, like foundations for motorway bridges?

So - the areas of hard paving (the bricks) and the loose surface dressing (the gravel) are separate. That sounds fine.

I'm still not sure how you're going to bed the bricks over the concrete. If it's a smallish area, then maybe rigid bedding is a better option, but for larger areas, you'll need mortar-edge restraint courses and then you can lay on sand for the body of the paving, assuming you've made allowances for draining the bedding.

If you do go for mortar bedding, then it may be worth looking at some of the thinset bedding products that are on the market. These allow you to bed the bricks on beds as thin as 3-6mm, which can help enormously if you're having to deal with a DPC.

The gravel should be dead straighforward. You'll need some form of retaining edge to stop it spreading everywhere, and the obvious thing to use is the brick to match the rest of the project. Don't put too much down, though - remmber that any more than 30-40mm or gravel becomes impossible to walk across, so, if you've 60mm or so to make-up to tally with the brick paving, I'd lay a bed of very weak grit sand and cement (say 20:1) to about 30mm thickness over the concrete and then top dress that with 25-30mm of the gravel.

How's that?

Thanks for that, its answered my question most adequately.
The guy wanting work on motorways- Im starting a big job on the M6 shortly- Ill be in touch.

Is it you doing the re-surfacing work between Warrington and Wiggin? Oooh! You will be popular!! ;)

michelle, i to like to bed in areas of decorative paving.More so in summertime. :) cheesy i know

I'll get me coat..