Anyone ever build a patio with pavers?

The Coffee Shop
1

Here are some simple rules if you ever attempt this supposedly simple DIY task.

  1. After you’ve marked out your boundary and start digging, stop, take a step back and fill it in. You only need to go half as deep as you think.

  2. Eyeball your hole and guesstimate how many bags of Baselite you are going to need. Take that number and double it.

  3. When you’ve had your 50 bags delivered, tell the delivery driver you want another 50…trust me you’ll need them.

  4. Put in your first layer of Baselite and tamp which will take all 100 bags.

  5. Go to Home Depot and order another 100 bags…before you leave, go back and add 50 to the order just to be on the safe side.

  6. Put in second layer of Baselite and tamp. Go back to Home Depot and load your car with a dozen more bags of Baselite just to get it nice and level.

  7. Repeat steps 2-6 for your sand level.

  8. The pavers are easy.

2

or just call the bomanite guy to install a paver-like concrete job.

3

This is one of the reasons I poured a concrete patio. Guaranteed to crack and it won’t blow away.

I did just finish a flagstone walkway that was sort of like that. Of course, I wasn’t really that concerned about how level it was since it was flagstone. And I left the gaps big enough so that I could fill in with 21a. It is rough and rustic but that is what I was looking for.

Good job. You probably have shoulders like Hercules now!

Bernie

4

Can’t do concrete. I have utilities running under the patio and I have longterm plans to run a gas line out from the house to my soon to be built outdoor kitchen. Pavers are easy to lift and replace, concrete is a beeotch to cut and patch.

5

1. After you’ve marked out your boundary and start digging, stop, take a step back and fill it in. You only need to go half as deep as you think.

Or, call the guys at Pioneer Landscape materials to bring 10 more yards of sand. Loose sand. Forget the bags… We did a 500 ft2 covered patio a few years back.

6

Sounds like you over-dug. Did you stake it out and run a string line and level it first and then dig to a uniform depth below the leveled stringline? There are specs for how thick of a base layer you need, and the materials should be readily calculable from that, plus or minus less than 400%.

But that kind of work is a good argument for the immigration amnesty bill.

7

What the heck is baselite? I had about 7 tons of gravel delivered by dump truck when I did my paver patio…

8

I see paver jobs go bad because of

  1. Not enough crushed rock in the base layer.

2.No frame edge ( Treated lumber or concrete ) the pavers move apart.

Unless your doing an extremely small job , Bags are not the best deal.
Sand -rock -mulch is better in bulk , you always need more than you think.

9

Why not just run a conduit under the pavers now in order to give you a place to run the future lines through at that time?

Stick a few lengths of six inch PVC pipe across the path of the driveway or patio or whatever, then you are good to go.

10

And make sure you have some slope for drainage, preferably away from your house (or old refrigerator box).

11

Cant do a dump truck delivery because its in the back of the house and there’s nowhere to drop it unless I tear out a fence and cut down a couple of trees.

I did dig too deep, but better that than not deep enough. I have bout 5 inches of compacted foundation (baselite is gravel, crushed brick and some sort of bonding mortar that holds it all together when you damp it down) 3-4 inches would have been plenty.

Got my pressure treated lumber borders in and they’re level and I have a 5 degree slope away from the house.

I did screw up my pattern and had another15 sq ft of pavers in before I noticed and I ain’t tearing them out.

Damn my knees hurt putting those suckers down…no running for me for a while.