Home Improvement : Constructing a Paved Footpath in the Kitchen Garden

We have a kitchen garden just in front of our home. The pump house which provides water for our home use as well for the garden is located at the southern side, half way down in the garden.The foot path leading to the pump house is unpaved and becomes muddy if it rains.So we thought of constructing a paved footpath from the house up to the pump house.

Please see the finished footpath in first two pictures and what it looked like in the last pictures

Step 1: Construction Materials

• About 500 numbers of Bricks. We used left-over bricks from another construction work and saved a lot
• 2 Bags of Cement (Total 100 kilograms)
• 100 Cubic feet of Sand, which has been sieved before use

Step 2: Clean and Mark Area

• The proposed footpath would be 30 feet long and 4 feet wide. First we marked the area with mason thread and then cleared all vegetation and weeds in between.
• A small channel along the marked lines for laying the edge layers to one brick thickness has also been made after clearing

Step 3: Constructing the Edge Layers

• First we constructed the edge layers with brick masonry on both sides of the proposed footpath to the required height. This edge layer will help in retaining the pavement in between from bulging out.

Step 4: Paving Bricks

• Then the area between the edge layers has been paved with a dry brick layer through out the length of the footpath.

Step 5: Filling the Brick Layer With Cement Mortar

• Cement mortar is spread over the dry brick layer so that the space between the bricks has been filled.
• The cemented layer is then watered lightly and mortar has been swept with a broom so that the voids between the bricks are properly filled and bonded together.
• The last two pictures show the partially finished footpath after completing this work.

Step 6: Mark the Finishing Layer

• The footpath needs a gentle slope towards onside so that rain water will not stagnate on it and drained out to one side to the garden.
• After taking levels, the proposed top of finished layer with required slope has been marked on both edges with cement mortar embedded with a broken piece of tile at the center.
• The markings have been connected with rich cement mortar and levelled

Step 7: Finishing the Footpath

• The footpath is then finished with a fine layer of very rich cement mortar from one end.

Now we have a nice paved footpath between home and the pump house. My wife uses this strip of footpath for morning and evening walk which provides some short of exercise.