Paver Base

Three bidders on the paver walkway we recently installed all called for 4" of compacted stone as a base with 1" of clean sand on top. Additional clean sand is brushed in to fill the spaces between the pavers. This was the same as we had heard from several other sources. They said that with sand alone the pavers would move too easily.

Marty

Marty, thanks. I was planning on 2" of gravel, but wasn't compacting. On the last paver patio I did, we did 2" gravel, 2 to 3 inches of paver base, compactor (rental), pavers, compacted again and then sweep the sand in the cracks 3 or 4 times over a week or so. I should have explained better. I just wanted to avoid the overpriced paver base you buy by the bag for field sand properly compacted.

You CAN buy the paver base (usually crushed bluestone) in bulk, and it is much, much less expensive than buying it by the bag. Check a real masonary dealer, or a landscape materials dealer.

While you could use sand for the base, the crushed bluestone stays in place much better after months and years of rain and snow.

I should have mentioned that the stone used was, at least what we call it around here, "processed" stone: quarry run 1/2" stone with stone dust mixed back in. The particle size distribution yields a very solid mass upon compaction that you don't get with uniform size stone alone. They use it by itself for paving parking areas. Should be available from any stone quarry operation.