Posted: 9/18/2015 8:12:11 AM EDT
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So I am putting a patio in the front of my house. The previous owner left me about 100 sq ft of paver stones in the back yard when I bought the house.
The front of the house has a cracked, small, asphalt walk-way that I want to replace. I ripped up the asphalt last night, and I will be digging up the area tonight to give me an area for the gravel, sand, and pavers. The area I am putting the pavers into is roughly 67 sq ft. It's approximately 7'-6" x 9'-0", so I should have plenty of stones. I am trying to figure out what I need for paver base (the gravel) and how much sand. From what I am reading, it seems that I need 4" of gravel, and 1" to 2" of sand. Can anybody confirm the numbers I have for the depth of the gravel, and the depth of the sand? I tried looking up code, but cant seem to find anything for pavers and patios. According to THIS site, I need 4" of stone since it is a non-driveway, and 1" of sand. Thanks! |
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From what I've read crusher run is better than crushed stone at resisting frost heave. I've asked places for it and they point to the crushed stone or 3/4 process which is crushed stone and 3/4 inch gravel. Lowes sells a paver base but I haven't found it in bulk form. I use it for those retaining wall stones and it packs down nice. My only gripe with it is it has large aggregate in it |
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I just did 2 small areas at my house, you will need 4"-6" of base (usually a crush stone and 3/4" stone mixture) and 1" of "paver sand" ( a fine stone). Home depot and lowes sell both and it may be alittle more expensive due to the fact that it is bagged and labeled for this use but at least you know you are getting the right stuff. Also, make sure you get the plastic border stuff to keep the pavers in place.
ETA: if you place you order online with lowes there are always 10% you entire purchase coupons online and when you get there they load up all the materials for you. 
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My patio is 400 sq ft of pavers. I did it myself. I have about 4" of crushed stone with 3-4" of crusher run on top of that followed by a 1" layer of stone dust. The crushed stone was put down several years before the patio was built otherwise I would have used crusher run for the whole thing.
Put down 4-6" of crusher run with a layer of stone dust on top. Put down the base 1-2" at a time and then vibrate it each layer. This way it will compact real nice. I bought my stuff in bulk at the quarry using a pickup truck. |
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Quoted:
My patio is 400 sq ft of pavers. I did it myself. I have about 4" of crushed stone with 3-4" of crusher run on top of that followed by a 1" layer of stone dust. The crushed stone was put down several years before the patio was built otherwise I would have used crusher run for the whole thing. Put down 4-6" of crusher run with a layer of stone dust on top. Put down the base 1-2" at a time and then vibrate it each layer. This way it will compact real nice. I bought my stuff in bulk at the quarry using a pickup truck. I did this as well but sprayed it lightly with the hose to make sure everything settled in good, by the time I got the last layer put it the shit was hard as cement. |
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Quoted:
I did this as well but sprayed it lightly with the hose to make sure everything settled in good, by the time I got the last layer put it the shit was hard as cement. Quoted:
Quoted:
My patio is 400 sq ft of pavers. I did it myself. I have about 4" of crushed stone with 3-4" of crusher run on top of that followed by a 1" layer of stone dust. The crushed stone was put down several years before the patio was built otherwise I would have used crusher run for the whole thing. Put down 4-6" of crusher run with a layer of stone dust on top. Put down the base 1-2" at a time and then vibrate it each layer. This way it will compact real nice. I bought my stuff in bulk at the quarry using a pickup truck. I did this as well but sprayed it lightly with the hose to make sure everything settled in good, by the time I got the last layer put it the shit was hard as cement. Good catch TBR I also wet each layer down. 8 years later my patio is still flat and looks good. |
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My soil is rock hard. about 12 years ago I put in a 5 foot walkway and a 10 ft x 14 ft patio. I used 1/2 inch of base max just to even out the stones. it has barely moved in all this time. If the soil had been anything else I would have put in a proper base, I just didn't feel like chiseling out the existing soil.
Mike |
| I did my front entrance using just Quikrete patio paver base sand only. It doesn't look like play sand but rather stonedust. Compact every two inches. Then when your ready lay the pavers spread 1" loose on top. Lowes has it by the bag either Quikrete or Kolorscape brand. It's considered step 2. So I bypassed Step 1. |
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Thanks for the help guys.
I am at the patio base step. So far, I've done a little each day and just chugging along. Wednesday - Moved pavers from the back yard to the garage Thursday - Ripped out the old asphalt walk-way (roughly 3'-6" x 7'-6") Friday - Started digging Saturday - Finished digging to 7 1/2", and leveled the area Sunday - Laid down weed barrier cloth, put down 2 layers of paver base. Each one of my layers is 12 bags, which should give me roughly 1" of depth for my size patio. I will need 4 layers to get my 4" base. I am misting and tamping at each layer per suggestions here. The soil under the paver base is almost like a sandy clay soil. The whole area was packed and a pain to dig up. I am hoping to have the patio finished mid-week. I will show a before and after picture when I'm done. BTW, I am doing it all myself, and the stuff on week-days is after I get home from work. |