Figure 5. Figure 9. Figure 3.
Excavate and fill. Dig to the required depth. Fill with the base (figure 3)and rake it flat making allowance for a drainage slope of about one inch of every eight inches of patio. The easy way to do this is to take a long two by four then place a level on top of that. Lift the board until it’s level, then measure the gap to get the angle of your slope.
Figure 6.
Laying the paving stones. Designate a starting point that will give you a straight line (figure 9). If building your patio against a shed or a house, the obvious straight line is the edge, but if not, you will need to set some other reference to work against. Set a string line as your reference point and install a line of paving edging to work against.
Figure 7. Figure 4. Now that you have raked and prop-
erly sloped your base, wet it down before compacting. You will need to run a power compacter over it (you can rent these) or you can manu- ally tamp it down (figure 4), but the compacter is much more reliable.
Add your screed. Getting a flat surface is the trick here. Lay down some straight steel poles (3/4-inch conduit works well) a couple of feet apart. Hold them in place with a pile of sand at each end of the rods (figure 5). Set your level across the poles, adjusting as necessary to ensure they are all level (figure 6). Now add the sand using a two-by-four or some other straight tool (the screed) to drag it into place (figure 7). Remove the poles when finished (or move them onto the next area to be levelled) and fill in the grooves with a cement trowel (figure 8).
Figure 10.
Figure 11. Now begin laying down your
As you rake, you should frequently set your level down to ensure that it’s close to your desired slope. Leave room between the grass line and the top of the base for your screed and pavers.
36 • Summer 2014 Figure 8.
pavers (figure 10). If your pavers are going to require cuts, you can rent a concrete saw. It is advisable to set a border around your patio to give it a finished look (figure 11).
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