Pave Away

You should now be standing before an expanse of sand that's flat as a pancake (but slightly sloped). Take down the guide strings you used to determine height and slope and put up new stakes and strings to mark lines for the pattern of your pavers. Start along your house or other long straight edge and lay down the border pavers (A border isn't essential, but adds a crisp, finished look, especially along curves). Then lay the rest of your pavers in your selected pattern. Measure over to your string every few rows to make sure you are staying on track. You can leave a slight gap between pavers or tap them tighter together with a rubber mallet.

Don't walk or kneel on the edge of the patio until after you've vibrated it; otherwise pavers can sink unevenly.

Let your pavers run "wild" near the curved edges. Using a paver as a guide, mark the inner pavers, remove and cut them with a masonry saw, then reinstall the cut inner piece and the border piece.

On tight radius circles, use half pavers for the border to avoid large, pie-shaped voids between them. When all of your pavers are cut and in place, vibrate the entire patio, starting at the outer edge and working inward in a circular motion. The vibrator will lock the pavers into the sand and help even up the surface. Don't let the vibrator sit in one place too long, or pavers could settle unevenly or crack.

If a paver sinks deeper than it's neighbors, use a screwdriver to pry it up, sprinkle a little extra sand in the void, then replace the paver.

Compacting the Sand & Sweeping

Spread coarse sand across the surface of your patio. After the sand dries, compact the sand into the joints with the plate vibrator, then sweep it around the spaces between the pavers. Make sure that the sand is dry - wet sand will bridge rather than fill the gaps. It may take two sweepings with a push broom a few days apart to completely fill the gaps. The sand helps solidify the pavers and also fills any spaces where dirt might enter to provide a mini-planting bed for weeds.

Please don't hesitate to contact Paver Depot for any other questions you may have about installation.