Tips for a frugal paver patio?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Hi--we have a home in Northern Virginia and due to expense and layout, we have pretty much ruled out having a deck on the back of our home. It would be off the ground, but so close to it and due to where the basement steps are and a window for the spare bedroom that we may wish to later convert to an emergency exit so that it is a legal and safe bedroom--it rules out the deck.

So we want to do pavers and make a patio and wish to do this DIY.

Any tips/places to look to learn how to do this CORRECTLY and inexpensivelly but so that it looks very nice? I've seen some version of doing one on a DIY show in the past. But am just looking for some tips.

AS it is still winter here and we have lived in Florida since the 1990s....any tips on when this project should actually be done? Wait until spring, I suppose.

 

[semo233]

I don't know too much about these things, but had someone put in a paver walkway two years ago. He used a product for in between the pavers that has silicone in it.....we have not had one blade of grass or weed grow up between them! Because the silicone is a little flexible, it expands and contracts with the temperature to prevent the pavers from popping up also.

 

[akcire]

I don't know too much about these things, but had someone put in a paver walkway two years ago. He used a product for in between the pavers that has silicone in it.....we have not had one blade of grass or weed grow up between them! Because the silicone is a little flexible, it expands and contracts with the temperature to prevent the pavers from popping up also.

It is probably paver locking sand, which has silicone in it. To keep our patio weed free, my husband spreads a new bag of this stuff every summer. It is about $12 at the hardware store. Do not buy regular play sand!

OP--If you want a really cheap route, you may want to watch Craigslist. I know a lot of people who have found paver patio's to be too much work--and instead get stamped concrete. Often times there are full patio's listed "for the hauling". Our new neighbors, did this and while it took them a while to find the patio stones they wanted, and then to prep and install the patio, it looks really good--and the have less than $200 into their patio (mostly sand, edging material, rock for underlayment, rental of the stamping machine (to pound down the existing dirt), and some wood to use as guides).

Our paver patio was at our house when we bought it. Personally, I would not install one (I too like the stamped concrete), but like I said with some minimal upkeep (yearly sand) the weeds should be very few. Of course every summer we have a few industrious ant farms in the sand, but a good rain usually knocks them out.

 

[jaminmd]

Hi--we have a home in Northern Virginia and due to expense and layout, we have pretty much ruled out having a deck on the back of our home. It would be off the ground, but so close to it and due to where the basement steps are and a window for the spare bedroom that we may wish to later convert to an emergency exit so that it is a legal and safe bedroom--it rules out the deck.

So we want to do pavers and make a patio and wish to do this DIY.

Any tips/places to look to learn how to do this CORRECTLY and inexpensivelly but so that it looks very nice? I've seen some version of doing one on a DIY show in the past. But am just looking for some tips.

AS it is still winter here and we have lived in Florida since the 1990s....any tips on when this project should actually be done? Wait until spring, I suppose.

http://www.ephenry.com/Homeowner/

We had a retaining wall put in by landscapers using EP Henry blocks. I was just looking at the book again a few days ago & it gave very specific instructions on how to do it. A flat surface such as yours wouldn't be too bad for a DIY'er.

DH did something similar in the front yard but the back was on a hill & needed professionals. See if you can get a brochure from them (more like a book) with the instructions inside.

 

[dis-happy]

Paver patios is NoVA are a little tricky (we used to live in the area you moved to). The problem is the moisture, you'll have to keep an eye out and see how wet your backyard is. Due to the clay soil moisture can stick around, especially on a non-sunny side of the house or if there are a lot of trees that block the sun.

Neighbors of mine put in a beautiful brick patio and ended up tearing it out later because it was always wet. I filled in an area with pavers on the cheap in my yard and it worked pretty well for the situation but not sure I would do it again (it looked okay, but not great). My friend who had a cement patio poured in enjoyed hers the most, even though it was more money upfront.

 

[Inigo]

I bought a "walk maker" plastic frame (made by quickrete) at Menard's that we used to make a "paver" sidewalk. The frame is something like 30 inches or so on each side and has separations inside so it looks like a bunch of pavers. You level the area, put down a layer of sand, then mix up quickrete and pour into the frame. Let it set for a very short time, pull up the frame, and then move the frame and repeat. Each pour of the frame took one bag of quickrete, and we mixed in quickrete color to color the blocks.

I googled and found the Walk Maker product at http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/WalkMakerCountry.asp Here's what one of the patterns looks like:

DH had the hard part, since he was mixing the quickrete in the wheelbarrow. That's what he gets for not wanting to go load up and bring over the concrete mixer from the farm . if he had done that, we could have finished the sidewalk a lot faster and he wouldn't have been as sore. We ended up doing 30 sets over the course of a week. If you don't have a concrete mixer, you can rent them.

After we let it set a week, I swept dry quickrete into the crevices, and then wet it down. It set up well, and it looks like we laid individual blocks instead of just filling a frame.

I'd like to do a back patio off the back deck, but I might just sell the house instead.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Paver patios is NoVA are a little tricky (we used to live in the area you moved to). The problem is the moisture, you'll have to keep an eye out and see how wet your backyard is. Due to the clay soil moisture can stick around, especially on a non-sunny side of the house or if there are a lot of trees that block the sun.

Neighbors of mine put in a beautiful brick patio and ended up tearing it out later because it was always wet. I filled in an area with pavers on the cheap in my yard and it worked pretty well for the situation but not sure I would do it again (it looked okay, but not great). My friend who had a cement patio poured in enjoyed hers the most, even though it was more money upfront.

We are at the end of a downslope, however there is a HUGE drain. Our yard does slope slightly towards it.

Neighbors on our same side--a couple house over, have pavers in their back yard, so that is where we got the idea.

Why the clay is "muddy" like when wet, we haven't noticed any major puddling when it has rained other than a superficial layer of water that tends to disappear once the rain stops.

 

[Swimalie]

Lisa we live in NoVA, too and last year, due to the snow, our deck was destroyed. We took it down ourselves and paid someone to put in a paver patio. After watching the guy go through what he did to put in the right grade slope, the right materials, get the discount for the pavers, etc, it was well worth it to pay someone.

We calculated up the cost of us having to rent a truck to bring in all the materials multiple times, lack of dealer discount, and the time it would have taken us and I think the difference between what we paid him and what we would have paid was only a few hundred dollars.

We had a random pattern of stones put in a 20'x16' with a different border. It wasn't EP Henry stones but it was a major brand like that. We got it from The Stone Center, which is where we got the guy to lay them as well.

The one thing we did save on was that we made our own steps. My husband did them himself and they look great! That saved us about $1000.

 

[Green Tea]

I bought a "walk maker" plastic frame (made by quickrete) at Menard's that we used to make a "paver" sidewalk. The frame is something like 30 inches or so on each side and has separations inside so it looks like a bunch of pavers. You level the area, put down a layer of sand, then mix up quickrete and pour into the frame. Let it set for a very short time, pull up the frame, and then move the frame and repeat. Each pour of the frame took one bag of quickrete, and we mixed in quickrete color to color the blocks.

I googled and found the Walk Maker product at http://www.quikrete.com/ProductLines/WalkMakerCountry.asp Here's what one of the patterns looks like:

DH had the hard part, since he was mixing the quickrete in the wheelbarrow. That's what he gets for not wanting to go load up and bring over the concrete mixer from the farm . if he had done that, we could have finished the sidewalk a lot faster and he wouldn't have been as sore. We ended up doing 30 sets over the course of a week. If you don't have a concrete mixer, you can rent them.

After we let it set a week, I swept dry quickrete into the crevices, and then wet it down. It set up well, and it looks like we laid individual blocks instead of just filling a frame.

I'd like to do a back patio off the back deck, but I might just sell the house instead.

We have used this as well and it looked great. It has since been replaced with bricks, but i actually liked the stamped concrete form better. I had moss growing in the cracks like a real rock pathway. It was very inexpensve as well.

 

[Kate and Pete]

We have used this as well and it looked great. It has since been replaced with bricks, but i actually liked the stamped concrete form better. I had moss growing in the cracks like a real rock pathway. It was very inexpensve as well.

Has anyone done this in a cold climate? DH is worried about the concrete cracking...

 

[dfchelbay]

I'm very interested in this subject as well.

 

[dissybroad]

I built a 20' x 14' fenced-in glorified dog run/patio out of el cheapo 16" x 7" concrete pavers in Maryland. I had a truckload of sand and the pavers delivered.

The prep work was extensive including leveling the ground, laying black plastic, filling and leveling the sand base, and laying the pavers by hand like this ll=ll=ll=ll
=ll=ll=ll=ll= etc.
The pattern allowed for minor adjustments to keep the whole thing squared. I didn't fill in between the pavers but laid them butted against each other and tapped in with a rubber mallet.

Benefits are, very easy to clean up leaves, snow, dog waste. The house stays cleaner since dirt isn't tracked inside.

Disadvantages are that weeds do grow up between the pavers. I control growth by pulling and using some Roundup. Algae tends to grow in a shady spot north of the deck.

Be careful with salt products in the winter, they can speed up breakdown of the concrete.

All in all I've been very happy with the patio for 14 years.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Be careful with salt products in the winter, they can speed up breakdown of the concrete.
.

Yep--we know about that. Our HOA has a rule about it for our driveway and sidewalks. They control everything!!! LOL!

Isn't it like magnesium or something--looks like salt, but isn't salt. My husband bought it at the store and all we knew was that it wasn't allowed to be salt.

Thank you for the details on your build.

Was it "back breaking work" would you say? Or was it just labor intensive? (i.e. worked up a sweat, had some sore muscles--that kind of thing)

How did you level the ground--I recall watching an edited sample of that on some backyard show on HGTV...they used a level....but did you just use a shovel or something to dig and smooth the surface?

 

[Pakey]

My husband and I put in a paver patio and sidewalks at a rental property we own. It was neither budget friendly nor easy. If you want it to last, it requires a lot of work.

You must get the ground very level and very compacted. It's important not to skimp or try to save time because it'll be a pill to try to correct sections later. After all of the digging, removing all debris, etc. we ran strings and then leveled with boards, checking the levels every foot. Then we compacted and rechecked.

Then you have to lay foundation type of sand to cushion the pavers and keep them from washing away/spreading. Then you lay the pavers and of course, re level as you go. We checked the level of every paver as we went. You'd have to pick some back up and either add or pull out sand. Then you pound them with a rubber mallet and then check the level again. And again.

Then we rented this machine that kind of vibrates and ran it over them to really settle them. Checked levels again.

After you get them all laid, you have to run the borders, use large metal spikes to anchor. The spikes ran into a lot of money. Then you use the poly sand in between the pavers and set that. We then wanted to seal the pavers to give it more of a wet look.

The project was enough work that my husband said he'd never ever do it again. The pavers themselves were so much cheaper than concrete but by the time we paid for the sand, the border strips, the spikes, the joint sand and sealer, we were way over the concrete that we could have had professionally done.

It's gorgeous and there are no weeds.

 

[ceecee]

Has anyone done this in a cold climate? DH is worried about the concrete cracking...

Most of our neighbors have stamped concrete and we live in Ohio where it gets fairly cold. We have pavers and DH spent a lot of time and $ putting the silicone stuff in between AFTER we removed the weeds. We have a large area so it took a lot of time. If we had to do it again we would do the concrete.

 

[Green Tea]

Has anyone done this in a cold climate? DH is worried about the concrete cracking...

We are in zone 6, so cold, but not as cold as Maine! The form for concrete that we used and was shown seems like cracking would be a non issue. It is maybe 2ft by 2ft per form. So not an expanse you would have to worry about expansion joints in. Look up the quikcrete website and see if it safe for extreme cold.

 

[snowywhite89]

Hi--we have a home in Northern Virginia and due to expense and layout, we have pretty much ruled out having a deck on the back of our home. It would be off the ground, but so close to it and due to where the basement steps are and a window for the spare bedroom that we may wish to later convert to an emergency exit so that it is a legal and safe bedroom--it rules out the deck.

So we want to do pavers and make a patio and wish to do this DIY.

Any tips/places to look to learn how to do this CORRECTLY and inexpensivelly but so that it looks very nice? I've seen some version of doing one on a DIY show in the past. But am just looking for some tips.

AS it is still winter here and we have lived in Florida since the 1990s....any tips on when this project should actually be done? Wait until spring, I suppose.

Our paver walkways were put in over 15 years ago. We paid to have it done. Our pavers are set in rock dust not sand. They have never moved or heaved during the winter.

 

[Swimalie]

How did you level the ground--I recall watching an edited sample of that on some backyard show on HGTV...they used a level....but did you just use a shovel or something to dig and smooth the surface?

Our guy used a leveler. You'd need to rent one. Also, if you are going up against your house, you'd need to make sure you level the ground at a 2% grade away from the house. I believe it's 2%, it might be more, to get run off and prevent puddling against your foundation. Our guy used a string and a level attached to the string.

He also used a concrete type filler that will prevent weeds. He left use with extra to fill in any holes that we see. So far, 9 months later, no weeds.

Our neighbors had the stamped concrete put in. They had horrible problems when it was installed. It looks fake, too and now I stare at concrete from my kitchen window (typical small lots here). Yuck. He says he wishes he had done the pavers that we had done now.

 

[dissybroad]

Doing a paver patio by hand was challenging since I have a bad back. I actually started out with a relatively level spot but had to remove some roots and rocks.

Don't try to do it in a weekend! I didn't over fill the wheelbarrow or try to carry too many pavers at once. More trips equals less pain.

I set the level on a straight, not warped, 8' long 2" X 4" on the ground and then the sand. See the note above about sloping up toward the foundation.