Laying Pavers

[cabinetman]

I had to remove about 800 pavers when we went from septic tank to sewer. Now, I have to replace that section, which is 15' x 20'. I was thinking of doing the whole shebang myself. I got one bid of $250 for just the labor, and I still would have to buy the landscape netting and the special sand for a bedding.

I have a tamper I made when I put in a 30' sidewalk in pavers. It's a 12" square piece of 3/4" plywood with a tall handle. For me to get that large of an area flat, and tamped tightly, I may not live through the ordeal. Or, I could go rent one of those power tampers. So, adding to the cost of materials and the rental, and the back breaking movement of placing all the pavers, farming out the whole job seems worthwhile. I don't think it'll be too hard for me to be talked out of it. It's just difficult to think about spending the money on something we can do ourselves.
.

[Nil]

If you've already got a packed bed of gravel, you don't really need to tamp the sand down. It compacts on its own just fine. A power tamper will shove the sand around and make big grooves.

For sand, what you want to do is put 1" pvc pipes buried 1" deep in the sand. Then take a straight 2x4 and scree off the sand such that the 2x4 slides along the PVC pipes. If you put your PVC pipes at the depth you wanted, you'll have a nice flat section of sand to lay your pavers on. Just pull out the PVC pipes, and fill those tracks with sand and you're ready to go.

[Thalermade]

Will ther be anyone helping you? It is a lot easier to lay the pavers when there is one of two folks keeping you supplied with bricks so you can just keep on your knees and focus on the bricks being straight and flush. If any cutting is involved, the other folks again help speed things up.

I imagine different regions do different bases. Here in SW Ohio it is either compacted crushed limestone, and then the sand as Nil said. Or some folks use a concrete base in place of the compacted crushed limestone.

$250 for labor seems to be reasonable.

Russ

[lebomike]

I have done this often over the years. $250.00 is a very reasonable price considering the back breaking job it becomes. Do as previously told, spread regular masonry sand and put two peices of 1" conduit in the sand and scred with a straight 2x4 or a good 1x4 to get a nice flat surface.Then you can start laying the pavers,or have some else do it for you. Pavers weigh in the neighborhood of 5-7lbs each and they start getting to feel very heavy in a short period of time. The last job I did was my driveway 18' wide by 32' long and 2,978 pavers later. It looks wonderful and increases the price of the home, but backbreaking.
My 2 cents.

Mike

[JeffG78]

If you do decide to do the job yourself, I would recommend Power Lok (SP?) rather than sand as a joint filler after you lay the pavers. The sand will attract ants, weeds, and grass. Power Lok has a bonding agent. After you broom it in, you mist it with water and it hardens. You cannot dig your fingernail into it, but if you need to pull up one or more pavers, it will come right up. It costs a bit more than sand, but will save lots of time later.

When I was a kid, my dad bought a huge load of street bricks after they pulled up an old road. We had to chisel off the ashpalt that was still stuck to them before we could use them to pave our driveway. The bricks were 10lbs each compared to around 4lbs for a modern paver and we (mostly dad since I was about 10) laid 35,000 bricks.

I thought about doing my current drivewayin brick pavers, but the bricks alone would cost about the same amount as having it poured in concrete. I don't think my back could take it either.