Paver Project

[ChemE75]

I’m no expert on laying patio blocks and pavers, but my neighbor had to move and had a pallet of about 60 16”x16” blocks and some wall blocks left over from a walkway he put in last year. Since I wanted to add a walkway out of the patio room side door, he sold me the load for about 1/3 price and hauled it all up to my yard. So I expanded the plan to go from the side door and wrap around the hot tub at the edge of the concrete slab portion of the patio. Since the slab slopes both back and to side, I decided to start at the lowest area and work back from there. I used a 6’ pipe from my longest clamp with my level to get things close to the right slope. A planed out section of 2x for checking the slope across the width. I never lived anywhere with such rock hard gravel under the sod. Anyway this is about half way.

 

[ChemE75]

Here’s some progress pics - about 25% of the blocks. Hard to see without zooming, but roots needed to be removed to make space for the wall blocks. Neighbor managed to cut one but his chain saw crapped out a couple days before they had to move so no time to fix it. I ended up hand cutting with a bow saw, my oscillating saw, a hatchet and the cutting end of my mattock. It’s already become far more work than I anticipated. But it will improve the back yard.
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[Jack A.]

Hope you invested in a big bottle of Advil.

 

[ChemE75]

Hope you invested in a big bottle of Advil.

Considering everything is 40-50 lb, I’m amazed my back is holding up. After L4-L5 disc repair, I try to go slow, lift with legs, use dolly to move things as close as possible, etc. I also went with a lighter 2.5lb mattock. So far, so good.

 

[ChemE75]

Short day today due to rain, but was good to see the slopes are looking good - nothing got dammed up and no puddles. The rock under the wall blocks worked well to let the water drain. So this paver section is done unless we decide to follow entire patio - maybe in the fall. Next up is finishing the retaining wall section. Seems the big box don’t carry the full array of sizes so matching small to these large may be challenging.
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[DSWalker]

Looks good!

 

[ChemE75]

Well, this is the 4’x4’ area I originally planned for the door access. But glad I did the rest of it since it’s much nicer to walk around the hot tub now.
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[ashley_phil]

well done!

 

[ChemE75]

Question for anyone more experienced than I in paver work - I’ve read a lot of negative reviews on the paver “tech” type joint fillers which are also very expensive. So thinking old school may be fine - just not sure which - plain old Portland cement or mortar mix or sand mix or something I’ve not considered? The “seams” are only 2-3 blocks across and run 7-9 blocks long.

 

[Rick Mainhart]

Good afternoon Tom,

Polymeric sand is available at the local home improvement centers.

Here's a quick tutorial:

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-polymeric-sand-2132510

Home Depot sells small bags if 35-40 pounds is too much.

Regards,

Rick

 

[bainin]

Polymeric is pretty quick and easy to do, but i have had some slowly get washed/eroded away where there is water runoff.
The good news is its easy to put more down.

 

[ChemE75]

Good afternoon Tom,

Polymeric sand is available at the local home improvement centers.

Here's a quick tutorial:

https://www.thespruce.com/what-is-polymeric-sand-2132510

Home Depot sells small bags if 35-40 pounds is too much.

Regards,

Rick

I was considering it. Seems pricy vs a sand mix and not necessarily any easier or less fussy.

 

[ssmith]

Suggest going with polymeric sand. It’s held up well for me on a couple of 5 year old projects. Not perfectly, but likely better than the other options out there.

 

[ChemE75]

Suggest going with polymeric sand. It’s held up well for me on a couple of 5 year old projects. Not perfectly, but likely better than the other options out there.

Like anything it seems the failures possibly are due to not following the instructions. Sounds like some compaction or tamping down along the joints is required to make sure it filters down to the bottom of the seams and then not using too much water to avoid wash out. I’m thinking an edging would help avoid washout as well - got plenty of 2x4s I can stake down as a temp edge. Also read a successful sand mix application is done with a grout bag and trowel to tamp it into the joints. This sounds like a royal hassle. I looked at my neighbors and he just filled with a coarse sand since most all is bordered by house foundation and retaining wall blocks, or other edging.