How To Lay Your Own Patio DVD

 Watch Clips Taken From This DVD

You Can Lay A Block Paving Patio

Note: To begin check your levels and calculate the best points to run off rain water putting in any necessary pipe work. Slope at least 1 in 80.

 Before

  After

1. Removed the soil by shovel 160mm below finished level of Patio. (160mm for 50mm Hardcore, 50mm sand, 60mm Paving Block). 210mm deep allowing for 100mm of hardcore is generally recommended however i was on very firm ground and this area will never have the preasure of been driven upon.

2. Placed Railway Sleepers on a 25mm sand bed down both sides of my central path and on front border edge to create contrast.

3. These can be cut by hand bow saw but ensure you've a good blade and obey the rule of sawing - don't force the blade through saw it back and forth with gentle preasure into the wood.

4. Ran the rain water pipe under my path with channel drains either side (lowest point of the patio and finish level 5mm below the patio finished level to encourage all the run off water into the drain) run into my man hole.

5. Adjust Man hole cover to finish flush at patio finish level, channel drain 5mm below.

6. Place screeds (4" x 2" or 100mm x 50mm)  55mm below the finished level of patio. 55mm as my paving block is 60mm and we need to leave 5mm for final compaction.

 7. Putting in the hardcore.

8. Spread out with a shovel and rake to roughly 50mm from top of screed and compact using a hired whacker plate.

9. Rake out the Sand to the top of screeds and screed off using a cross stick.

10. Compact the sand with whacker plate.

11. The compacting takes our sand down about 10mm, refill and screen off again to give us a loose 10mm top layer of sand and remove the screeds.

12. Fill in the channels compressing the sand with your fist as you work back, taking care to level with the screeded sand bed, a small piece of stick is usefull for this.

13. Lay on our block paving.

14. Brush in very fine stabilizing sand.

15. Compact the block - this compresses the block (down the 5mm) into the 10mm loose bed of sand.

16. Repeat this Process on either side of our central path, i'm using a differant block here to crete contrast. Screeds in 55mm below our finished level. 

17. 50mm of Hardcore leveled and compacted to roughly 50mm from top of screeds.

18. Sand raked out to just over the top of screeds.

19. Screed off with a cross stick (4" x 2" or 100mm x 50mm)

20. Compact the sand with a whacker plate, the compacting takes our sand down about 10mm.

21. Refill and screen off again to give us a loose 10mm top layer of sand.

22. Remove the screeds and fill in the channels compressing the sand with your fist as you work back walk only on the channels not the screeded bed, use a small piece of stick as above to level with the screeded sand bed.

23. Start laying the paving block walking on the block as we work back this avoids walking on the screeded sand bed.

24. Never refuse a helping hand.

25. Complete the laying until only the cuts remain. Take care to measure and cut accurately.

26. Cutting using a diamond masonary blade on an angle grinder gives a very clean cut. 

27. Are we good or what!

28. Brush in the fine stabilizing sand between the joints.

29. Compact the block - this compresses the block (down the 5mm) into the 10mm loose bed of sand.

30. Fill in the manhole with mortar. - I included some black dye to help match the colour of the paving block. Manhole covers frames can also be got from the block manufacturers in which you can place the paving blocks into the frame disguising it's presence.

Job Done.