Im in the middle of laying a Patio and realized something... I wish I had rented one of those gas powered compactor things.

The land here is nothing but sand and the hand compactor sucks. Plus I made a slight mistake.. I made a low spot.. doh...

oh well ... I'm building it for my neighbors since I did a patio already and its pretty level and angled slightly since our backyard isnt level so the water drains.. Their backyard is slightly flat.. I think the low spot is where I had to dig up a big grass chunk or something and forgot to compact it... I suck

Laying pavers definitely isn't one of my fortes. I put one in last year and rented one of the compactors. Definitely worth the price if you're doing a good sized project. My patio did make it through the winter (albeit a mild one) without any settling so I guess that's a good sign.

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

I had a massive brain fart halfway through and realized I really should have framed it out and leveled it to the frame... I stopped halfway and Im just going to wait for my neighbors to get home and go from there.. I moved all the patio furniture on it and nothing rocked it was all solid.. I can just notice the low spots when I spray massive amounts of water on it.

Don, some crushed stone is much more compactable than sand and would make a more stable base for that patio. You can still use sand on top of the crushed stone and to lock the pavers together, but crushed stone is the best. That's what is used to build highways, roads and runways. Compact it with a vibratamp once it's graded properly and you're golden.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I wanted to do crushed stone to start with and tamp it with the hand one.... but I dont think my neighbors want to spend anymore money on the patio.. 370$ for the pallet of pavers, 100$ ish for the tools.. plus my fee of putting the bloody thing up . which I really want to tear out and do it over the right way outa my pocket... errr.. Im waiting for them to come home now

Thats how we did my patio... we tamped it but without stone. we just made the sand/dirt mixture moist so it wouldnt move around alot and worked from the outside in.

Lucky you are in Florida, you might get away with doing your method. In freezing climates, your patio will be way out of level the first winter.

The biggest mistake novices & lawn maintainance companies make on paver patios is improper base prep. Many try to use just a sand or stone dust base. It won't last long. You want a minimum of 4", preferably 6", of compacted CR6, CR8, #57's, or "road base". Leveled & plate tamped, followed with 1" of concrete sand to set the paver. Done correctly, it should stay level many many years.

Here is a link with region specific installation info for Florida

http://www.icpi.org/techspecs/index.cfm?id=13&tech=02

All that said, if you are not making much for the install, go for it.

David
www.irwinstone.com

I know it would never last back in CT where im from... inground pools up there never lasted(well the ones I saw looked like crap)


I wanted to on my patio to put down the proper base then sand etc.. but so far its been fine for the last 3 years..

Im resisting the urge to go rip up 150 bricks.(Im not even done yet)

i always specify 8" of crushed stone as the main base.

a couple of inches more costs an insignificant amount. the more the better.

the romans used about 6' of stone as the base for their roads, starting with stones that probably weighed several hundred pounds each.

i drove on the appian way in rome. their roads last a long long long long time.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Im ripping up the last 4 rows ... 4x9 bricks and re doing it... since it only slopes down to the low point.. about 1/2 inch the edge (13ft) will be lower so water will effectively drain off and not leave a stupid stain.

you will never regret losing a little money to produce a no excuses job for your customer.

good man.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I really want to tear the rest of it up and start over.. its pissing me off... I hate laying brick.. I hate it... its soo annoying


update...

I just tore up the entire patio and will be doing it.. for the most part.. the correct way... No gravel since I dont think the 300D has that kind of capacity.. I will just tamp down a crap load of sand til its solid..

I think the ass load of construction debris(concrete and shingles) in the dirt should suffice for the gravel

It wouldn't be annoying if you had a six foot level.........and you know exactly what you've got before laying the first brick.

I have a 48" level, 24" level.. I didnt lay the first brick ... my neighbors jumped the gun.. so that one brick screwed me up..

I guess its a good thing Im redoing it.. the proper way and I will know its correct, square, level, correct... and not be like a lousy contractor and leave the bricks all screwed up


the patio is bigger than mine... Its an L shape with the squares measuring 9x13 and 8x7

The 48" should probably be OK. It sounded like you had a leveling problem.

Are these the pavers that have virtually no gap between them? No possibility of adjustment as you go?

I'm getting them as close as possible They are 12"x12" pavers. Idealy they should have no spaces

When I was doing it before the gaps were small but progessivly they got larger... So something was up.. My patio was fun to put the last brick in.. So I knew that was done right(started on the edges and worked inwards.)