Landscaping in Birmingham, Michigan

 

Landscaping in Highland, Michigan

Brick Patio in Ypsilanti

Here are photos of a recently completed brick paver job in Ypsilanti.

 

 

Landscaping in Royal Oak, Michigan

These photos were taken by Mark Kelly of a project we recently completed in Royal Oak, Michigan.

Before Photos:

    

 

After: 

 

      

     

   

Landscaping in Ortonville, Michigan

We did this job last fall, but the photos we just took.

Side of the house brick walk

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side of the house brick walk

Stone step in walk

Landscaping in Oxford, Michigan

    

 

We just completed this fire pit with a sitting wall in Oxford, Michigan.  The customer also chose to install outdoor lighting underneath the seat and each pier will get one light facing the patio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patio Before

The inlay was added to enhance an existing patio. Enhancing existing elements is one way to spruce up your landscape while containing costs in a tight economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This fire pit is perfect for entertaining, night and day.

 

Can you imagine having the family and friends over, the kids are

roasting marshmallows (with adult assistance) and the adults are enjoying good food and conversation.

Doesn’t that sound like a wonderful staycation?

 

Cleaning Bricks

Cleaning, sealing, and sanding of existing brick paver sidewalks and patios should be performed every 2 – 3 years.

The sealing of bricks should not be done more often than this.  Excessive sealing could result in a build up of sealer and even produce a hazy or cloudy appearance to the pavers.

If this does occur we should be able to remedy the problem by diluting the sealer with a stripper or a thinner. This is something that the average homeowner should not try on their own.

While cleaning brick pavers use a power washer and “blast” the sand out of the joints. Now don’t go crazy with this. If you blast too much out, you could get down to the bedding sand, and this could cause the pavers to settle and become uneven — creating a costly repair.

Brick pavers don’t usually need chemical cleaning. Washing with a power washer works well, but if the pavers have stain from hard water or oil from vehicles, there are some good products that can usually remove the stains but not always or completely.

If your pavers are not sealed and the contactor used polymeric sand to fill the joints the pavers may not need sanding for 4 – 5 years. If you don’t have polymeric sand in the joints then your pavers will need sanding every year, and I suggest you spend the extra few dollars and upgrade to polymeric sand. As a contractor I only use polymeric sand.

 

How to Bid Brick Pavers

Bricks are bid by the square feet. But be careful when you are bidding a job for your client that you take all factors into consideration.

A client calls you to ask what you charge per square feet for bricks, and you give your basic price. What that client may have not told you is that the brick paver work is not accessible to you with any machines. What if the project is at the bottom of a large hill and your crew would have to use wheel barrows or even worse, buckets? What do you do now?

You had already opened the door for that client to think that the price you gave is applicable to all situations and conditions. Remember, excavating in sandy soil is much faster than digging in clay soil. You must have a good idea of how long it takes one laborer to dig 3′ x 3′ x 8″ – that is 9 square feet and 8″ is the minimum depth for brick pavers. If the soil is a loam, it takes one of my laborers an average of 20 minutes to dig this size area.

Then you must know how long it takes to install and compact the gravel base, you must answer this based on your employees. With mine, the average is about 20 minutes for one laborer.

For my company, I must get $10.50 per square foot to excavate and install the base and sand and lay the bricks. And I keep my overhead low. This number applies to the easy access job and using typical brick pavers, meaning an average size brick – no really big or odd sizes, like the Euro paver.

The client then chooses her bricks and those run $2.00 to $8.50 per square foot.

When the conditions are not easy access or difficult soils, I increase my price based on the additional man hours I think it will take to complete the project.

It is cut throat sometimes, bidding landscape jobs against competitors who are desperate to turn dollars and will bid brick jobs at a price that no one can stay in business for. Don’t fall into this trap. It hurts the client when you cut corners in order to try and make money off a too-low bid. Do the job right, be proud of what you do and expect that your client will value your expertise and quality craftsmanship. Clients consider their landscape projects long-term investments, and so should their landscaper.

Have A Proper Base for Brick Pavers

When installing brick pavers, make sure the installer uses a compacted gravel base.  I recently looked at a brick job that is only three years old, but has a lot of settling. Her brick pavers are wavy, sinking and some are loose.The homeowner informed me that the contractor did not use a compacted gravel base.  The loose bricks can also be a result of improper sanding. Now, this homeowner is completely against using brick pavers to complete the rest of her project.

As a homeowner, protect yourself by knowing the industry standards. The most commonly accepted standard is a minimum of 5 to 6″ of compacted gravel (21AA or its equivalent) for sidewalks and porches. Although porch base depth is determined by the height of the porch. When bricks will sustain vehicular traffic a minimum of 8″ is required.

Slag +/or sand should be used for leveling only, approx. 1 to 2″.

Building a proper base for a brick porch

Building the base for a porch

 

The finished project: A beautiful brick porch