Paving

Has anyone ever paved open air surfaces before?

I've seen some fairly sloppy works in the past from DIY'ers that sag over the years and am looking into doing my paving around a new pool.

What are your experiences?

I've been reading up on this and see that there are quite a few different ways of paving out-doors.

Some dig 20cms down, lay rock or concrete, then sand and then the pavers.

Some say just lay the pavers.. :eek:

Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you.
 
We're paving soon - from what I can work out the trick is to get a base of some kind of gravel (usually paving sand or crusher dust - fine gravel with sand in it), and get it really compact. Either with a roller or one of them petrol driven compacter whatsits. We're planning to hire a compacter. Then the pavers just sit on top of the nice, level, hard, understuff and you brush sand in to fill the gaps between them so they don't move.

Its the lack of compaction that makes it sink.
 
Can't give you any direct experience as I haven't done it myself, but my dad, uncle and brothers have done it many times on many different properties over the years without any problems.

They only use the foundation sand, the pavers and then the fine sand to sweep in between. They spend a fair bit of time compressing and levelling the sand before putting the tiles on, but do a great job and yeah - no problems with sagging etc.
 
Hi, I've paved a fair bit on various ppor's - I only learn't lately that the trick is to pay someone to do it - it's easier on the back!!

the method of paving is slightly different depending on if the surface is just for walking (ie a patio or path) vs driving on - ie a carport or driveway.
Naturally more preparation should go into a driveway surface, as well as thicker pavers (generally 40mm+ thick)

I start with the final desired level - then take away the thickness of the pavers, then approx the same thickness of the sand base, and then about half that again for a dolomite / aggregate sub-base.

Often that means I need to dig out some of the soil (and if you're on clay thats not such a bad thing.)

So
1. cut away (or fill) soil to appropriate depth
2. lay aggregate, rake level then roll or vibrate to compact (I water the ground to get additional compaction)
3. lay sand, and scree it level
4. lay pavers
5. haunch edges of paved area (best to make the haunch pretty deep - shallow ones crack and the pavers then move easily, especially on driveways)
6. sweep fine sand into cracks - and re-vibrate (however to avoid breaking the pavers- especially from a heavy vibration machine - wrap the vibration plate with several layers of carpet/ hession bagging). The re-vibration allows the fine sand to move deep into the spaces between pavers providing a firmer finish.
6a. - you can get a crack-filler sand which has a chemical added - that acts as a glue - the sand needs to be swept into the cracks - then swept off, then watered in (and make sure there is no sand sitting on the surface, coz the chemical can stain the pavers if they are not sealed.)
Or you could just add a few handfulls of cement dust to some fine sand to get the same effect.
7. seal the pavers - especially if your a red wine drinker, or you're gunna have a bbq on it – sausage n steak oils stain ...

hope this helps.
 
I have done some paving and the most durable paving was on 3-4 inch of blue metal dust with an inch of paving sand compacted before laying on the pavers. The blue metal dust is the stable base. You need treated timber or motar to edge of the paving to prevent the base from being washed out from underneath.
 
Quarry rubble compacted with a compactor for the base is a must if you don't want sinking.

Paveloc (has a glue in it) as a sweeping sand is recommended for between the bricks. As another poster said sweep well so it gets in between pavers and make sure there is none on top of the bricks before wetting down.
 
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