How to lay a simple paving patio?

Question

I would like to create a simple patio but have no building skills whatsoever. Is it possible to lay spaced paving slabs on compacted earth with gravel in the spaces between them?

If so, what is the best way to compact the earth? Do I need a membrane layer? Can I lay slabs directly onto a membrane?
Should I have some sort of slope?

Any other advice much appreciated. I have zero practical skills.

Answer 1

easy
Drainage should be first priority.
second, a good foundation
third, sand not gravel for your joints

Do you remember last time the area in question was flooded?
if not think water! lots of it

now think foundation\ solid foundation ! some people skimp and in 2 years it shows
( I have no idea at what you have but lets go with my imagination)
The soil where you are going to lay patio is soft and hard in different places. Its best to have it all the same.-Hard!

Dig down 4- 6 inches (from) where you want the top of your pavers
2 1/2" for base 1" for sand base 2 1/2' for your pavers (some are 1"- to 4" thick (depends how thick your pavers are)
use(1-2 " rocks) base for starters and then "Compact" 1" sand on top of the Base. you can use a big block of wood with a handle for your stamper next use a string line to level/ grade your sand base to exact specfications.
-If next to a house you will want at least a 1/4" fall per 4' away from the house for drainage
ie; 12' by 12' patio you would want a 3/4 slope or "fall"

membranes are not nessasary in many cases unless you are planning to mix seeds and dirt with the rock "Base" to prevent plant growth and if you are worried about frost line the rock Base will suffice.
Now you are ready for your pavers!

Plastic edging helps but not nessasary if you have seated a deep/good foundation of rocks. If the edge of your pavers are going to be exposed than you will need starters or some kind of edging to hold your sand grout.

there are hundreds of designs and patterns available check with your home building supply house. and check out designs online.
when you are done with the paving aspect you can "grout" your pavers with mason sand for best results. and tamp again. water, sand, and tamp again.
rots of ruck
>rico

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
How to lay a simple paving patio?
I would like to create a simple patio but have no building skills whatsoever. Is it possible to lay spaced paving slabs on compacted earth with gravel in the spaces between them?

If so, what is the best way to compact the earth? Do I need a membrane layer? Can I lay slabs directly onto a...

Answer 3

For the best answers, search on this site https://smarturl.im/aD1gh

My hubby and I laid a small patio in our backyard 3 years ago. We used the larger 18 x18 paver block to make the work really quick. We killed the grass where it would go with some roundup. Then we hand dug out about 4 inches in the entire area. We used the extra dirt to make a raised flower bed. We then put down some medium/small sized rock on the bottom, then filled with sand which can be easily shifted for a level surface. You can use a 2x4 to do this. Then we laid in the pavers. We made sure that they were a little bit higher then the surrounding ground, since it would settle a little. We were told to fill in with sand. We swept the sand into the cracks, but my hubby was worried about the dreaded weeds coming up, so he took some plain old fast drying dry cement, something that hadn't been mixed with water yet, then swept into the cracks. after that he sprayed it down lightly with the hose to make it wet. It sealed the cracks in between the pavers, and we have never had a single weed! The important thing to remember is to keep it level, and slightly graded AWAY from the patio at the edges. It will stop puddling on the patio.

Answer 4

if you have the money get some viscreen. its a heavy duty plastic liner. then dig down 2 inches under the level of the patio, lay the viscreen and then pack out with sand on top to an inch depth. next throw down some quarry dust 1/2 inch depth rake it level then place your first flag down. if its shallow pack it out with more quarry dust. bring it level to the ground then level off using a spirit level. use that as your plumb. then dry lay the rest of the flags making sure your allways level also make sure you leave a 10mm gap (the width of your forefinger) once done and your happy you can dry brush in the quarry dust as a grout, or! and only if its dry(no rain) use a dry cement sand mix at a ratio of 3/1: 3 sand 1 cement, and brush that into the joints. the next rainfall will cure it solid. make sure you get rid of any spillage of the dry mix (brush it off and throw down water). heres a brilliant tip: most building sites have everything you need apart from the flags for free! go to a local building site, look for a bloke wearing trousers and a white hard hat, more than likely hes the building site manager ask him can you womble some scrap (trust me everything gets skipped thats not used) if he says no! then comeback a few hours later and look for anybody not wearing a toolbelt or looking officious (site managers and foremen never carry tools neither do the labourers) you need a site labourer, he will salvage you whetever you need, and all it costs is a thank you!

Answer 5

If you are a beginner or have done some woodworking you will find these plans easy-to-follow as the instructions are very clearly written https://tinyurl.im/aHLIW The woodworking plans are straightforward so they are not complicated at all. Even if you are a total newcomer to woodworking you will simply be able to master all the techniques that are needed and the woodworking skills very quickly by following the concise and clear instructions. Another thing which is so great about these woodworking plans is that there have been some videos included and there are some to guide you in how to build benches home furniture dog houses bird feeders sheds and much much more.

Answer 6

You can do whatever you want anna b. You can go to great lengths to excavate, lay hardcore, binding material, bedding material, pointing joints........are you can "lay a simple patio" The ground doesn't have to be exactly level but it should be flat. Compacted earth in your case,just get a few people to stamp about on it, any grass/weeds removed. It shouldn't slope towards the house. If you try and lay slabs on a solid bed of sand it is quite difficult to get them bedded without them rocking. Simply make a mortar mix, ratio 4 sand to 1cement. For each slab, put five good sized dobs of the mortar on the ground to match size of slab. one for each corner, one in centre. Place slab on top and tamp down gently. Repeat with other slabs making sure you don't tread on/disturb the ones you've laid. Use a long length of straight wood and/or a spirit level to make sure as you lay them, the slabs are keeping in the same plane, that is, not dipping up and down. In a couple of days be ok to gravel in between joints, around edges. Makes for good drainage but weed seeds will germinate in there and you'd need to pick them out as they show. slabs would be undermined quicker than if they were pointed and water drained from bottom of any slope. It won't last forever, it will move in time, but the fact is .....it can't go far. And that's as simple and quick a method as you'll get in my opinion.

Answer 7

If the ground in question is well compacted i.e. not dug over and loose and is clear of weed then just level and cover with the membrane material used to keep weed down. Lay out slabs and as you say pour gravel in between. Thats the job done. You can cut through the membrane layer and place plants into the subsoil to come out over patio.

Answer 8

In the event that you are searching for woodworking plans you can discover a huge number of woodworking plans here:

http://woodworking.toptips.org

It's the perfect result in the event that you are simply starting with woodworking and also in case that you have already experience with it.

You can discover a ton of woodworking arrangements and you will have the capacity to deal with the projects with a CAD/DWG software. It permits you to alter the projects and to alter the arragements.if you are a beginner this is a great approach to start. It's the best approach to woodworking; and on the off chance that you already have experience you will discover a considerable measure of plans and inspirations to improve your capabilities with woodwork.

Answer 9

There were so many woodworking plans with this collection and you will not believe this but there are over thousands plans in the one package deal. Go here https://tr.im/BBY4V
This is really something to find that many all together. For someone like me who is just really starting to get involved with woodworking this was like letting me loose in a candy store and telling me I could have anything I wanted. That was my dream when I was a kid.

Answer 10

You may get some practice do-it-yourself skills by searching the web site at skills it .com, or get advice from some of your friends. Seek guide,mama!