a basic question on patio building 101

Posted by caledon on March 1, 2006, 6:50 am

I am redoing the patio and a walkway this spring/summer. And I want
to do it myself, (along with the help of some brawny nephews...) I was
reading the other patio thread, and wondered if someone could tell me
the basics of laying the patio.

ie. what layers of what, what layer goes first, I gather I must tamp
between layers right?, how deep should I dig initially? And how do I
figure out how much of each layer of material (ie screenings or sand )
that I should be getting?

My soil is loamy, with some gravel and drains very well.

Thanks!
Janet

Posted by James \"Cubby\" Culbertson on March 1, 2006, 11:20 am

> I am redoing the patio and a walkway this spring/summer. And I want
> to do it myself, (along with the help of some brawny nephews...) I was
> reading the other patio thread, and wondered if someone could tell me
> the basics of laying the patio.
> ie. what layers of what, what layer goes first, I gather I must tamp
> between layers right?, how deep should I dig initially? And how do I
> figure out how much of each layer of material (ie screenings or sand )
> that I should be getting?
> My soil is loamy, with some gravel and drains very well.
> Thanks!
> Janet

Concrete, flagstone, brick, crusher fines? You don't say what you plan to
put down for the patio and walkway.

Posted by PipeDown on March 1, 2006, 4:03 pm

>> I am redoing the patio and a walkway this spring/summer. And I want
>> to do it myself, (along with the help of some brawny nephews...) I was
>> reading the other patio thread, and wondered if someone could tell me
>> the basics of laying the patio.
>> ie. what layers of what, what layer goes first, I gather I must tamp
>> between layers right?, how deep should I dig initially? And how do I
>> figure out how much of each layer of material (ie screenings or sand )
>> that I should be getting?
>> My soil is loamy, with some gravel and drains very well.
>> Thanks!
>> Janet

> Concrete, flagstone, brick, crusher fines? You don't say what you plan
> to put down for the patio and walkway.

In my case, the manufacturer of the paving stones had a recommended cross
section right in the brochure and had additional installation guides and
technical bulletins right on their website. Local landscape material guys
were able to recommend the best base rock material for my soil and location
(what is cheap here may be expensive there and any number of base materials
will work). It just needs to compact firmly and permanently. The paver
sales guy gave me additional tips and recommendations.

The basic method is universal and published in a great many books. Some
pavers go directly on a sand bed and others go into a mortar bed. You
really need to decide what you want first.

"pictures are worth thousands of my words"

Posted by caledon on March 2, 2006, 2:30 pm

Sorry, I am planning on putting down either concrete or flagstone....

James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

> > I am redoing the patio and a walkway this spring/summer. And I want
> > to do it myself, (along with the help of some brawny nephews...) I was
> > reading the other patio thread, and wondered if someone could tell me
> > the basics of laying the patio.
> > ie. what layers of what, what layer goes first, I gather I must tamp
> > between layers right?, how deep should I dig initially? And how do I
> > figure out how much of each layer of material (ie screenings or sand )
> > that I should be getting?
> > My soil is loamy, with some gravel and drains very well.
> > Thanks!
> > Janet

> Concrete, flagstone, brick, crusher fines? You don't say what you plan to
> put down for the patio and walkway.

Posted by James \"Cubby\" Culbertson on March 4, 2006, 12:16 am

> Sorry, I am planning on putting down either concrete or flagstone....
> James "Cubby" Culbertson wrote:

>> > I am redoing the patio and a walkway this spring/summer. And I want
>> > to do it myself, (along with the help of some brawny nephews...) I was
>> > reading the other patio thread, and wondered if someone could tell me
>> > the basics of laying the patio.
>> > ie. what layers of what, what layer goes first, I gather I must tamp
>> > between layers right?, how deep should I dig initially? And how do I
>> > figure out how much of each layer of material (ie screenings or sand )
>> > that I should be getting?
>> > My soil is loamy, with some gravel and drains very well.
>> > Thanks!
>> > Janet

>> Concrete, flagstone, brick, crusher fines? You don't say what you plan
>> to
>> put down for the patio and walkway.

You can probably get away with just compacting what you've got with a
mechanical tamper
I would think. I'm no expert though. I'm planning to put brick down with
a 2-3" layer of crushed
base followed by 1" of sand with the bricks on top. I will be compacting
the base course and a final
compaction of the bricks when done. As for the flagstone, I'd probably go
the same route as I just described
for brick unless you want to mortar them in place. Check the web out as
there are lots of suggestions out there
or better yet, call some local places and find out what they recommend.
Cheers,
cc

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