Help! Paver Patio

[TheGrassGuru]

In one of my classes I had to write a step by step paper. I chose my topic to be building a patio. Is there anything that i missed that you can see? Also if you dont know how to build one i can find this paper being very beneficial. PATIO.doc

[Mayor of Mow Town]

Lawn care business tips

Hey GrassGuru I can't comment on the accuracy of these steps, but I used to be a teacher, tutor and trainer, and can offer a tip on presentation if this is for a paper. In each of your steps, you have a bunch of other sub-steps. It would make it much easier for the reader if these were in bullet points, or numbered e.g. 1.1, 1.2. Diagrams also make things like this much easier to understand. That's just my two cents....whether it's relevant to you depends on the purpose of your paper. Good luck. Cheers

[Steve]

How To Build a Paver Patio

The majority of homeowners pay high dollar amounts for a professional company to come in and build a paver patio; when this can be done by following these few steps. You must be prepared for hard work and allow yourself plenty of time to ensure a job well done.


The first step to building a patio is planning. Choose a site that will be functional and appealing. For example, an area flat and where people commonly gather. Drawing a plan with dimensions will help in estimating the amount of supplies needed. Next, go to your local home improvement store or paver manufacture and determine what look and what color pavers are desired. Once you have chosen a paver, estimate how many pavers are needed. To do this you will have to find the area and divide it by how many square feet one paver consumes (Length x Width / Paversqft). Now figuring the amount of base is done by volume. A 4-inch base is recommended. To find this use the volume formula, but remember you must convert the 4 inches to feet (Length x Width x (4/12)). The same formula is used to find the amount of sand. Two inches of sand is recommended. (Length x Width x (2/12)).


Step two is the most important and time consuming to constructing the patio. Mark the perimeter of the patio with a string line ensuring that the dimensions are accurate to the plans. Excavate 8 – 10 inches down around the whole area of the patio. This will create a basing for the base (compacted gravel or crushed stone). Ensure that the depths are consistent and the basic shape of the patio is accomplished. In doing so, proper preparation will prevent shifting of the pavers and sinking.

Step 3
Now, it is time for the base, wheel barrow the base into the basin of the patio and spread with a rake. Spread the base evenly and the basic surface of the patio will be apparent. Remember, your pitch will determine which way the water flows. Dropping 1-inch for every 10 feet will be more than enough. To figure this tie a string line to a stake and set the height of the string to desired height of the top of the pavers. Run the string across the base surface and attach to another stake on the other side of the patio. If the pavers are 2” thick, 4” (2” of sand + 2” pavers) from the surface to the string line is correct. Anything exceeding 4” is a low spot. Now, go to your lowest point, the point in which water is to run, and add 1” to every 10’ and measure from the base surface to the string. After the base is fine tuned, run the base compacter over the surface several times alternating directions. Correct any low spots with adding more base. Mist the surface and compact again. Repeat until the overall surface is desired.

Step 4
Now that the patio surface is complete it is time for sand. Rationally think of where you need to start and end to where you don’t have to step in the sand. Lay two 10’ pieces of 2” conduit 5’ apart and start with skreeting the sand with a 2 x 4. Slide the conduit out without disrupting the evenly dispersed sand and fill in the spots where the conduit laid and move on to your next area. After completing the sand you can move on to the next step.

Step 5
Laying the pavers is very important to the overall look of your patio. Before lying, decide where the most logical place to start would be. Up against the house foundation would be a prime example. This ensures that your pavers will be square and will minimize cutting; resulting in less material waste which means less wasted money. You may need a large piece of plywood to stand on so the sand is not disrupted. Start with one row before moving onto the next row. Make sure that the seams are staggered and the pavers are snug against one another. Do this row by row until all the pavers that don’t need cutting are laid. The patio seems to come to life after this is done. You will most likely have to rent the wet saw at your local rental supply. Measure the pavers that need to be cut and mark with a wax pencil. When cutting allow the saw to do the work, to much pressure will result in poor cuts and take its toll on the saw. After they are cut lay them in place. Ensure that you are happy with the results before moving on to the next step

Step 6
The final step to the patio is filling in the seams with either polymeric sand or fine play sand but applying these are very similar. MAKE SURE THE PATIO IS COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE OPERATION. Pour sand on top of the patio and use a large push broom sweeping in different directions to fill the seams. Once the sand is 1/8” below the top of the pavers you have accomplished this step and you can start blowing off the patio removing grains of sand missed when sweeping. Polymeric sand is very pricy but the need for staining the patio is unnecessary unless desirable. The way polymeric works is when it gets wet the sand expands and stays in place. Although, the downside to poly is the chance for staining the pavers is increased due to its fine particles adhering to the pores on the pavers. Fine play sand is cheaper and easier to apply; but, staining the patio is necessary. Choose a stain that is desirable. For example a wet look stain will make the patio look wet. When applying the stain make sure there are no debris on the patio and the temperature is from 70-90º F. Apply the first coat with a pressurized sprayer, allow drying for 2 hours, and apply the second coat with a paint roller. Wait 24 hours before enjoying your new usable space with friends and family alike!

It would be nice if you could take some pictures of yourself performing such steps and including that in your document. Or even video clips!

Very nice work.

[TheGrassGuru]

Thanks for the advice guys! Im ontop of it as we speak. I will repost the final draft with pictures here later this week.

[CCCLawns]

The last patio we did we had to put in six inches of compacted road mix and the two inches of avers sand as our base. Thats just what we did but good paper

[Steve]

The last patio we did we had to put in six inches of compacted road mix and the two inches of avers sand as our base.

What made you decide to go with that kind of foundation? How does this change depending on the job for you?