How to build an outdoor bathtub slab?

[Dogdish28]

I have a cast iron bath tub in the back garden (great for the summer months!) that I wish to make a stable slab underneath it. It was set in a garden but it moved around too much so I have since moved it out of the garden and have it on a gravel area but I wish to slab underneath to stop any movement. Now the project doesn't need to be perfect but I would like this to be somewhat stable with no movement. I have some old bricks I wish to use for the project and my question is this (after reading many guides thanks to google):

1. Do I need to lay a concrete slab first, wait for this to dry and then use mortar to lay the brick?

2. Can I lay the concrete and insert the bricks into the wet concrete?

3. Would I need to use rio for this small slab or would that be overkill?

Like I said the project doesn't need to be perfect and it's not for a resort I'm just after some practical advice on the easiest, simplest way of building this slab whilst using up some of my old bricks that have just been in a pile waiting to be used. 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Dogdish28. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about constructing a slab.

The first step in creating any slab is compacting the ground. We have compactors for hire for this. Once you have a stable base, you could pave the area by layering a mortar bed of around 50mm and setting the bricks into it.

Alternatively, if you are not going to compact the area then I think it's best to follow this guide on How to pour a concrete slab and add reomesh to it. The solid slab will be less likely to subside under the weight and the reomesh will prevent cracking.

Once the slab has been laid you can add a 20mm layer of mortar and bed your bricks into that. You could potentially add your bricks to the concrete slab, but depending on the consistency of the concrete, they could sink into it, creating an uneven surface.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell
 

[Dogdish28]

Thanks so much Mitchell that’s great advice. I will be compacting the area as I know how important this is. So bricks and mortar is all that I need to do the job - much easier than I thought it would be 👍