Put on safety goggles, ear protection, and a dust mask. If you get to the end and you meet a wall, like the foundation of your house, use a mason float to scoop out the additional sand. Some people prefer tight spacing because of the look, or to avoid dealing with sand or pebbles in between since they can spill out and get kicked around. To do this take a long, straight board and place one end against the house where the patio corner will fall. Before putting down the concrete pavers, plan how you are going to place the paver stones. In the photo above, my metal bars are diagonal because I needed to slope my patio in two directions. To install them, dig a trench far enough into the pack to accommodate a 4-inch bed of concrete and set each stone 3 inches below finish grade. It was easy enough to follow the slope lines with the strings. 39 Easy DIY Patio Ideas & Tutorials: On A Budget, of top layer/leveling material- *see note. A 16 x16 paver is actually 15 x 15 and just over 1 thick (not 16 x16). Spread a light layer of paver sand over the entire area. Who am I? What do you expect from a job that requires you to mix cement, lug heavy stones and crawl around on your knees all day? A plurality, if not a majority, of sources recommend at least a 4-in.-thick layer of compacted gravel covered by a 2- to 3-in. In this review, the This Old House Reviews Team researched the five best solar generators on Amazon to help you find the product thats right for you and your home. Cut your spacer down to the size you have planned for your joint width. I used marble chips. Here are some of the gap fillers you might want to consider for your project: Some of the links on this page have been provided as a convenience for finding materials. When youre gathering your supplies, youll want to consider the type of material that will fill in the gaps between the concrete pavers. Because your goal is to create a finished surface that is as flat as possible, this means you have to custom fit the bottom of each stone in the sand base, which can be extremely time-consuming even after you get the hang of the job. If you had all the time in the world, you could go with a less expensive, non-rapid setting mix, but youd still be looking at almost $200. Anything larger or thicker is usually a special order. The crew discusses pocket doors and advises on painting. These extra leveling strings will help considerably when you are leveling the inner portion of the patio space. If its not compacted tightly, the soil will shift and so will your pavers. Yep, thats me. Well, Im not always an advocate of making everything a DIY project. *Some Important Notes About Your Project Materials. We bought ours in upstate New York, where 1-in.-thick bluestone costs about $4 per square foot delivered. The concrete paver stone was resting awkwardly on the raised gravel. Now that you know how to lay pavers, you'll be able to complete similar projects in no time. The custom designed pavers youll see were super cheap and easy, and that stamped concrete tutorial is here. All rights reserved. If a patio were to be completely exposed to the weather, we would omit the sand and just use a 6- or 7-in.-thick gravel base because it has better drainage. Its possible to go wider, but youll then want to go with a larger stone which can be more difficult to find and more expensive. The angle of slope that allows for proper drainage for your patio is 1 per every 4 feet. Cover the subgrade in batches of 3-inch-thick layers of pack, a blend of -inch crushed stone and stone dust. They can be square or come in natural stone shapes and be laid in a wide variety of patterns. When I sat down and added up the math for this particular concrete paver project, it just didnt make sense economically to make my own. To adjust a stone for flush and pitch, pry it up with a square shovel, then use a trowel to add or remove wet mix. The way to fix this is to gently remove the paver and check for the larger gravel that is raised. Depending on size and weight, bluestone slabs will settle into the wet mix half an inch or more, so spread the mix thicker than its planned final thickness. Tamp it with a plate compactor. Have someone hold the end of a tape measure at the house mark and adjust the board until the 8-ft. mark intersects the 10-ft. mark on the tape. Make sure you're not dragging the pavers across the sand and never stomp a paver into place. Use a hand tamper near walls, sidewalks, or foundations. A solar generator gives you backup energy from the sun should your electricity fail. Then, at any stake, have your helper, with the marker at the established point, move the rod up or down until the marker falls in the crosshairs. Popular Mechanics participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Drive additional stakes every 2 feet between the corner stakes closest to the house and again on the opposite end of the patio, which the grade slopes toward. Remember, you can walk on these as you lay them. You'll have to make some compromises on this step because not all the joints will line up perfectly. Try to minimize the number of stone pieces that will need to be cut to size on-site. Run the plate compactor over the area one last time. Save time when you're working with a large area by using a plate compactor, a machine that compresses gravel and different kinds of soils. Spread the material you choose over the patio and use a push broom to fill the joints. on one side and 12-1/2 in. Make sure you don't work yourself into a corner. Level these areas before moving on. Repeat using the spacers to lay more pavers. If you are using the same pavers I used, these are just over 1 thick. Download The Home Depot Mobile App to find the tools you need. Reminder- due my patio being boxed in on all four sides, my photos show the stakes placed inside the patio area. When setting the stones, place them straight down into the sand and fit them together snugly. Just knock off the waste side with a hand sledge. Dampen each layer with water to keep down the dust. Mark the stake at the bottom of the rod. Those living in mild climates where the soil is sandy and drains well should excavate down to 6 inches. The total height between the bottom of the gravel base layer to the top of the paver will equal about 5. Or if you have a little four-wheeled wagon and dont have a hill to go up to, that will make things much easier! By aligning the edge of the end stones with this string, you'll ensure that your installation starts square. The material is also pretty heavy. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Laying pavers is a DIY project that takes about one weekend to complete. A variety of flat stones will dosmooth squares of slate or rough flags of limestoneas long as they can withstand foot traffic and the local climate. A long board with a 4-ft. level on top should keep you in the ballpark. A masonry saw is the quickest way to get a clean cut. Then go ahead and carefully place your first concrete paver against the two spacers. One ton of stone dust, for a 1-inch setting bed, will cover about 200 square feet. When it comes to concrete patios, theres only one option for design because they are concrete slabs. Looking to build a concrete paver patio? Youll be forced to work outside the patio the whole time if you level the entire space at once. And here is the tutorial on how to make the adjoining gravel garden using some of the same pavers to make it look fully connected! At this point, you should add additional stakes through the middle of the patio. A ton of pack laid at 3-inches will cover 75 sqaure feet. You prepare a base, level each piece, and fill in the joints. Compact the area until you have a firm base. I thought it would make it easier this way, but I ended up pulling them out and keeping them straight. Swivel the level and repeat at each stake. Work out your pattern on graph paper before you place an order. Now youll be ready to entertain on your new concrete paver patio! Next, cut a notch in both ends of a screed board to fit over the guides. Once the surface is flat, compact it with a plate compactor, available at tool rental stores for about $50 a day. Next, use a marker to mark a line where you pulled the strings to (this will be a backup just in case you do lose a string line I had one snap on me). To help with the tamping, you can spray a little bit of water on the top of each of the two layers. If installation speed and light work are important to you, then bricks or concrete pavers are probably the better choices. Sure you can color the concrete, or stamp it, but its going to be one solid piece. drop for every 8 ft. of run is a good minimum figure. Prep The Patio Paver Area By Digging A Minimum Of 6" Down, Level The Ground For Your Paver Stones Using Strings Tied To Stakes, Measure Slope To Allow For Patio Drainage, Lay And Compact The Base Layer Of Soil Using A Tamper, Plan The Order In Which Youll Lay The Concrete Pavers, Level The Top Layer Of The Concrete Paver Base By Screeding, Lay The Concrete Pavers Using Trimmed 3x1's As Spacers, Secure The Concrete Pavers In Place And Fill The Gaps With A Material Of Your Choice. Rent a skid-steer loader to clear away debris and dig the patio base. I paid $200 for all of my concrete pavers. In this example, you'd need about 20 cubic feet of gravel, or 3/4 cubic yards. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You'll be using 4 inches of gravel, which is 1/3 of a yard, for a paver base. (You can walk on the pavers as you lay them.). between the stones, and check that the matching faces of the stones are flush and that the second stone is level with the first from side to side. Because of this, we were locked in to very specific spacing, unless we wanted to go through the hassle of cutting the pavers. Continue this process until the entire patio area is covered with level paver sand. Once you have this layer evened out, use the tamper tool to compact it. Drive garden stakes into the ground just outside the perimeter markings and attach a mason's line. Using a hose, spray the joints gently with water to encourage the stone dust to pack tightly. square piece tips the scales at about 87 pounds, and a 2-in.-thick piece of the same dimensions weighs about 175 pounds. width and length increments, starting at 12 x 12 in. Read this DIY guide to hinges, their design, style, and purpose. Physicists May Have Created a New State of Matter, Earth Just Experienced Its Shortest Day Ever, Amaze Your Friends With This DIY Potato Cannon, The War in Ukraine Is Elevating New Military Tech. Once theyre secure, measure each stake from the ground up to 4. Drive 3-foot stakes into the ground 1 foot outside the corners of the patio area. These links may also be affiliate links. thick. Before you begin placing stones in the sand, you must establish a square corner. Then set the blade to 1 inch and make another, final pass. Measure from the ground, up the stake to 4 and mark this. So you can see, to go through the labor and time involved in making in this scenario, I say just buy, rather than DIY. If you pile on all 4 at once, its unlikely youll be able to compact it properly. When you return to the first stake, tie it off and cut the string from the spool. from the nominal designation. They are used to create patios, paths or walkways. These differences in size are accommodated by the grout joint between stones, which is usually 3/8 to 1/2 in. stone is fine. Instead, you can opt for the 12 x 12 pavers. Planning for a Pergola: What to Know Before You Install One. For most of his patios, This Old House landscaping contractor Roger Cook favors 1 - to 2-inch-thick bluestone, a tough sandstone quarried in New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont. The next step is how to lay pavers. You can lightly mist the soil to help with this. Remember, you can walk on these as you lay them. If it isnt, which is likely, use the tamper tool/ plate compactor to tamp down the soil.