paving etc
Hi Moo,
The Bobcat was quite an expensive exercise as it was a full days work (at around $65 an hour). There was around 100sqm of concrete to be pulled up and he also removed all the lawn from the backyard.
There was 6 tonne of sandy loam (soil) delivered for the lawn, approx 6 tonne of road base material and about another 3 tonne of paving sand.
The cost for all of this was $2000. Probably 6-700 of this was the cost of the road base, soil and paving sand.
The road base material is a gravel/sand mix which is laid down first and compacted to ensure a good solid base. They use it as a base beofre laying the asphalt on roads - hece the name.
The paving sand is spread about an inch thick over this and lightly compacted. It is not normal sand. The pavers are then laid on this and also lightly compacted once laid.
If you skip any of these steps you are running the risk of your pavers sinking and moving over time.
I then used a product called pave-set which is a very find sand mixed with a silcon product. You spread it over the finished pavers and when you compact them it finds its way down into the gaps. You then spray it with water and it sets solid.
You can ring any landscape supply place and they will know exactly what these products are and will quote you a price per tonne or cubic metre.
I think the road base was around $25 a tonne, the loam around $30 and the paving sand around $35. This adds up very quickly.
I can't remember exactly what the mortar mix was. I asked at the paving place what they recommended and just followed their instructions. It was just cement and sand mixed together but I can't remember the ratio.
You dig a little trench along the edge of the pavers and secure the pavers in place with the mortar and just build the mortar up to about half the height of the pavers and trowell it off on a 45 degree angle. It helps to stop the pavers moving and the 45 degree edge lets you put soil over it and let the lawn grown right up to the edge.
Do a few google searches on paving and you'll find all the tutorials you'll ever need.
The hardest part is setting the levels and keeping the same level as you progress along the job. This was my first ever effort at paving and I learnt a lot. I could do an even better job next time.
Hi Moo,
The Bobcat was quite an expensive exercise as it was a full days work (at around $65 an hour). There was around 100sqm of concrete to be pulled up and he also removed all the lawn from the backyard.
There was 6 tonne of sandy loam (soil) delivered for the lawn, approx 6 tonne of road base material and about another 3 tonne of paving sand.
The cost for all of this was $2000. Probably 6-700 of this was the cost of the road base, soil and paving sand.
The road base material is a gravel/sand mix which is laid down first and compacted to ensure a good solid base. They use it as a base beofre laying the asphalt on roads - hece the name.
The paving sand is spread about an inch thick over this and lightly compacted. It is not normal sand. The pavers are then laid on this and also lightly compacted once laid.
If you skip any of these steps you are running the risk of your pavers sinking and moving over time.
I then used a product called pave-set which is a very find sand mixed with a silcon product. You spread it over the finished pavers and when you compact them it finds its way down into the gaps. You then spray it with water and it sets solid.
You can ring any landscape supply place and they will know exactly what these products are and will quote you a price per tonne or cubic metre.
I think the road base was around $25 a tonne, the loam around $30 and the paving sand around $35. This adds up very quickly.
I can't remember exactly what the mortar mix was. I asked at the paving place what they recommended and just followed their instructions. It was just cement and sand mixed together but I can't remember the ratio.
You dig a little trench along the edge of the pavers and secure the pavers in place with the mortar and just build the mortar up to about half the height of the pavers and trowell it off on a 45 degree angle. It helps to stop the pavers moving and the 45 degree edge lets you put soil over it and let the lawn grown right up to the edge.
Do a few google searches on paving and you'll find all the tutorials you'll ever need.
The hardest part is setting the levels and keeping the same level as you progress along the job. This was my first ever effort at paving and I learnt a lot. I could do an even better job next time.
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