Concrete pavers / interlock pavers
 

My apology for cross posting.

I have a question regarding laying some concrete pavers to make a trail
at the side of my house. I am talking about those 24" X 24" type you
see in big box stores.

Every book I read one needs to put a few inches of gravels plus one
inch of sand for foundation. When my neighbour did his two years back
he did not put down any foundation at all. In fact he did not even
remove the sod ! Two years later every still looks fine to me. In fact
it has a certain rustic look to it that is not available in jobs done
properly !

What disasters I am looking at if I follow his lazy way ?

J

wrote:
My apology for cross posting.

I have a question regarding laying some concrete pavers to make a
trail
at the side of my house. I am talking about those 24" X 24" type you
see in big box stores.

Every book I read one needs to put a few inches of gravels plus one
inch of sand for foundation. When my neighbour did his two years back
he did not put down any foundation at all. In fact he did not even
remove the sod ! Two years later every still looks fine to me. In
fact
it has a certain rustic look to it that is not available in jobs done
properly !

What disasters I am looking at if I follow his lazy way ?

Probably none. You are essentially installing stepping stones, right?
If you're laying the smaller pavers, more brick sized, then the base is
more critical in keeping the pavers from shifting around. Since you
like the more rustic look, and the pavers are so large, don't sweat it.
I wouldn't just drop them on the sod, though. It'll look much better
right away, and you won't have problems with tripping and mowers and
such, if you remove the sod and lay the paver flush.

R

The large size blocks are difficult to keep completely level if you've got a
lot of them creating a patio or a solid walkway. Especially for steps on a
slope, I built frames for the blocks.

Because of our sandy soil in FL, I used PT 2 x 6s to make a frame just big
enough for 4-6 of these large blocks, then anchored the frame into the
ground with 2' rebar. Then I tamped some sand into the frames and put the
blocks on top of them. This is especially effective in making steps because
you can level everything make sure your spacing is correct. It looks good,
everything is level and the steps are easy to lay out.

"RicodJour" wrote in message
oups.com...
wrote:
My apology for cross posting.

I have a question regarding laying some concrete pavers to make a
trail
at the side of my house. I am talking about those 24" X 24" type you
see in big box stores.

Every book I read one needs to put a few inches of gravels plus one
inch of sand for foundation. When my neighbour did his two years back
he did not put down any foundation at all. In fact he did not even
remove the sod ! Two years later every still looks fine to me. In
fact
it has a certain rustic look to it that is not available in jobs done
properly !

What disasters I am looking at if I follow his lazy way ?

Probably none. You are essentially installing stepping stones, right?
If you're laying the smaller pavers, more brick sized, then the base is
more critical in keeping the pavers from shifting around. Since you
like the more rustic look, and the pavers are so large, don't sweat it.
I wouldn't just drop them on the sod, though. It'll look much better
right away, and you won't have problems with tripping and mowers and
such, if you remove the sod and lay the paver flush.

R

I made a patio out of 18" patio pavers about 5 years ago (maybe more
now). They still look like the day I put them in. Couple of things I
did.

1. Removed anywhere from 0-8 inches of earth, to rough grade the area
and bring it level with the existing house entry (sidewalk).
2. Added and rough graded anywhere from added approximately 6 inches
of lime rock (small pea sized gravel, with lime mixed in). I manually
tamped this several times and let it settle over about 2 months (other
projects going on as well).
3. I had placed framing around the area that intended to leave. This
was treated lumber. I then put approximately 1 inch of sand in and
graded this to an almost glass smooth finish. I had the whole thing
sloping away from the house approximately 1/4" per foot. I decided to
offset each row. So in other words, the first row, I had 1/2 a paver,
then full ones until the last one, which was the other 1/2. In the
next row I started with a full paver and ended with a full paver. The
next row was back to 1/2 first and last. On the next row, I went back
to full. A staggered pattern, I guess.. This really helped to lock in
the big pavers.
4. I manually tamped them in one last time (carefully) to help them
settle. And then spread sand between the joints. But the joints are
so tight, there is little sand going in between!
5. Finally, I took some of the dirt I dug out in the beginning and
graded the edges out from the framing.

As you can see...a WHOLE LOT of work! But it does hold up VERY well
and we spend many enjoyable hours on the deck.

By the way, I dug in 4 posts later and some framing on top of those
posts and added a tarp thing, that filters about 80% of the sun. Helps
keep it cool on those hot days.

Having said ALL that, you can just plop those things on the ground if
you want. But they will likely shift. I had a friend that did what
you are considering for a sidewalk and it works...and frankly, it
doesn't look to bad. But when he tries to shovel snow off it.....wow!
He's cussin'.