Help with installing paver base

[jeffc]

I'm putting in a short walkway paved with paving stones, between our sidewalk and the street. I dug out the section and put down paver base they sell in bags. On top of that I'm going to put paver sand. I got most of the paver base in and I compacted it last night. I need about another inch of it before I put the sand on. Last night it rained heavily and the paving area is flooded full. Has this done any "damage"? When it drains, do I need for it to dry out for awhile or anything before continuing?

[Craven Morehead]

Jeffc,

At the risk of sounding sarcastic (OK of BEING sarcastic...), the reason it;s called "paver base" is because it's used as the base for pavers, i.e. no sand needed. Just add enough to bring it to the right level, compact, and add pavers. THEN sweep sand into the cracks. Then drink a beer.

BTW, there are numerous "right" ways to lay pavers. They all work.

[Abe]

You'll want to let it dry out mostly and then re-level and recompact because the water gets between the base particles and swells the base.

[jeffc]

All books, pamphlets, web sites, etc I have ever seen call for a sand base as well. The sand is screeded offering the the flattest surface filling in slight depressions in the paver base, as well as offering "cushioning" or the proper amount of give for pounding the pavers into the sand for a perfectly flat finish.

[bamboo]

[Abe]

That's sooo wrong. Water gets between the grains and loosens the compaction.

[Colbyt]

That must be why they don't add water to dga when building roadbeds. NOT

Jeffc gave you a good answer. The water was your helper. Water loosens sand and compacts dga which is rock and rock dust. Some paver base is just rock dust. Others have some fragments.

Roll or tamp it while wet for further compaction. Do let it mostly dry before you proceed.

Colbyt

[No]

Wrong

[No]

Wow, lots of conflicting and mis-informed advice on this on.

Water is doing nothing bad. let it dry enough so you can re-compact it and re-grade it if necessary. Bring up to desired grade, add your 1" or so of sand then install your pavers.

Post back if you want some tips on getting sand to consistent depths. The key is your base. Make sure thats pretty close to where you want it before adding the sand.

[jeffc]

The walk is between the sidewalk and the road, and the road has a concrete curb. I want the pavers level with the curb and the sidewalk, so I'm just using a 2 x 4 to screed with. I cut a notch at each end to fit over the curb and sidewalk to a depth of my pavers minus 1/4" to compensate for compaction into the sand after putting the pavers down.

[No]

You can put in a piece of pipe level with the top of the sand and screed on that if you need to. Remove the pipe and fill in the channel left as you install the bricks.

[Craven Morehead]

Jeffc,

As u can see by the responses, there r many ways to do this and most will give u good results. The paver base I used was from a stone / paver distributer and was very fine. I put down enough to almost the right level, then tamped, then added a bit more, perhaps 1/2". I then set each paver and tamped most with a rubber mallet. Once I was convinced they were even & level I brushed sand (special stuff) in to the cracks. Finally, added gentle water to help set the special sand, which gets sticky when water is added so it does not settle much or run away.

[jeffc]

Yes, but you have to do the extra step you mentioned. I think that's best used specifically when you don't have anything else to screed against. The curb/sidewalk being 6 feet apart gives the perfect guides to screed on without pipes.