Installing Your Own Pavers For Your Driveway
Ever been tempted to redo the paving of your own cement driveway but too scared of making a mess or losing a whack load of cash in the process?
Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and start drawing the layout of your new driveway. This will include the distance from your front door to the pavement, the width and if you'd like you can add some rounded corners where necessary as well. I mentioned planning in pencil as you'll most likely want to make a couple of changes while drawing your master piece.
Next you'll need a roll of building line and a couple of pegs. Create a outline of your driveway by hammering the pegs into the ground 1 meter apart and tying them to each other with the building line. If you're creating an outline over a stretch of grass make sure you don't hit any irrigation pipes.
You will now need to slope your driveway so that water will run away from your house not towards it. The same pegs and building line can be used for this. Hammer a peg into the ground at the highest point of your driveway which is by the garage, front door or anywhere closest to your house. Tie the building line onto the peg at the height at which the paving will be laid from the ground up. Hammer another peg on the outer boundary of your layout closest to the pavement and tie the other end of the building line to it. Hang a line level on the building line and move the line up or down until its level.
The angle of a driveway must slope down at 20 degrees towards the departure angle so move the line connected to the peg on the outer boundary down. The departure angle that connects with the public right-of-way must slope down at a maximum of 5 degrees.
Decide which pavers you're going to use
A big benefit of using pavers is that you can create a lot of different patterns and intricate shapes. Just be careful when designing your first layout as it can be quite tricky to work out the number of square meter pavers you will need for your project if you have too many bends and turns on the design.
Doing the ground work
You now need to dig out the sand where your pavers on your driveway are going to be installed. The depth of the hole you're going to have to dig will depend on the height of the paver you're going to use plus 300mm for the base and 3cm for the sand layer. Remember to measure the depth of the hole from the building line down as you want the paving to stand out above the ground.
Building the base
The base of your paving project is built with building stones and is usually about 300mm thick to carry the weight of a car or high feet traffic. Pour a load of building stones into the hole and level it with a steel rake or spade. Double check the height from the building line to the building stone to make sure there's still space for the pavers and sand. This is the most important part of the base and needs to be done accurately otherwise you will need to through a layer of bedding or a laying course as they use to call it to compensate for the space.
Fitting the edge restraints
Edge restrains are long strips made up of thick plastic or aluminium and are used to prevent pavers from coming loose at the edges of a driveway, walkway, and patio or wherever paving is laid. Basically you use edge restrains wherever your paving doesn't meet your house, boundary wall or any other fixed structures that would keep it in place.
If you have rounded corners on your driveway's design you can buy flexible edge restrains that can be shaped to use on the round corners. Lay the edge restrains around the boundary edge of your driveway and fix it down with steel pegs. You should now see the outline of your driveway and how it will look once the pavers are laid.
Laying the sand
Building sand is the material that most contractors use for paving projects. You now need to throw a layer of sand between 2.5cm to 3cm thick on top of the building stones and level it. This is the last stage of the paving base so double check that the sand is the same distance from the building line right across the driveway.
Laying the pavers
The last step is the fun step. This is when you get to lay down the pavers. Don't drag them or stand on the sand, you might unlevel it. Instead place them down carefully and tight against each other. Remember to start in a corner that's connected to a fixed structure like your house, garage or wall and work your way out from there along the edge restrains. The part where your pavers connect with your edge restrains needs to look the best as you can very easily use cement to blend them in with fixed structures. Once done all you need to do now is compact the pavers into the sand.
Run a compactor on the driveway and make sure all the pavers are tight. When you're done throw a layer of sand on the driveway and sweep the sand into the gaps between the pavers. This will keep them in place and lengthen their lifespan.
Grab a pencil and a piece of paper and start drawing the layout of your new driveway. This will include the distance from your front door to the pavement, the width and if you'd like you can add some rounded corners where necessary as well. I mentioned planning in pencil as you'll most likely want to make a couple of changes while drawing your master piece.
Next you'll need a roll of building line and a couple of pegs. Create a outline of your driveway by hammering the pegs into the ground 1 meter apart and tying them to each other with the building line. If you're creating an outline over a stretch of grass make sure you don't hit any irrigation pipes.
You will now need to slope your driveway so that water will run away from your house not towards it. The same pegs and building line can be used for this. Hammer a peg into the ground at the highest point of your driveway which is by the garage, front door or anywhere closest to your house. Tie the building line onto the peg at the height at which the paving will be laid from the ground up. Hammer another peg on the outer boundary of your layout closest to the pavement and tie the other end of the building line to it. Hang a line level on the building line and move the line up or down until its level.
The angle of a driveway must slope down at 20 degrees towards the departure angle so move the line connected to the peg on the outer boundary down. The departure angle that connects with the public right-of-way must slope down at a maximum of 5 degrees.
Decide which pavers you're going to use
A big benefit of using pavers is that you can create a lot of different patterns and intricate shapes. Just be careful when designing your first layout as it can be quite tricky to work out the number of square meter pavers you will need for your project if you have too many bends and turns on the design.
Doing the ground work
You now need to dig out the sand where your pavers on your driveway are going to be installed. The depth of the hole you're going to have to dig will depend on the height of the paver you're going to use plus 300mm for the base and 3cm for the sand layer. Remember to measure the depth of the hole from the building line down as you want the paving to stand out above the ground.
Building the base
The base of your paving project is built with building stones and is usually about 300mm thick to carry the weight of a car or high feet traffic. Pour a load of building stones into the hole and level it with a steel rake or spade. Double check the height from the building line to the building stone to make sure there's still space for the pavers and sand. This is the most important part of the base and needs to be done accurately otherwise you will need to through a layer of bedding or a laying course as they use to call it to compensate for the space.
Fitting the edge restraints
Edge restrains are long strips made up of thick plastic or aluminium and are used to prevent pavers from coming loose at the edges of a driveway, walkway, and patio or wherever paving is laid. Basically you use edge restrains wherever your paving doesn't meet your house, boundary wall or any other fixed structures that would keep it in place.
If you have rounded corners on your driveway's design you can buy flexible edge restrains that can be shaped to use on the round corners. Lay the edge restrains around the boundary edge of your driveway and fix it down with steel pegs. You should now see the outline of your driveway and how it will look once the pavers are laid.
Laying the sand
Building sand is the material that most contractors use for paving projects. You now need to throw a layer of sand between 2.5cm to 3cm thick on top of the building stones and level it. This is the last stage of the paving base so double check that the sand is the same distance from the building line right across the driveway.
Laying the pavers
The last step is the fun step. This is when you get to lay down the pavers. Don't drag them or stand on the sand, you might unlevel it. Instead place them down carefully and tight against each other. Remember to start in a corner that's connected to a fixed structure like your house, garage or wall and work your way out from there along the edge restrains. The part where your pavers connect with your edge restrains needs to look the best as you can very easily use cement to blend them in with fixed structures. Once done all you need to do now is compact the pavers into the sand.
Run a compactor on the driveway and make sure all the pavers are tight. When you're done throw a layer of sand on the driveway and sweep the sand into the gaps between the pavers. This will keep them in place and lengthen their lifespan.
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