Advice for laying a small patio for arbour - 3m x 1m

[ste©]

Hi there,

This weekend I plan to create a small patio at the end of our narrowing garden to put our new small arbour on. The patio will be about 3m x 1m. Not too sure what type of paving to get yet, but will just pop into B&Q / Homebase / Wicks tomorrow and get something that I like. Also, I've not got any preferences over the size of the paving (either big paving slabs, or small block paving).

After I've dug out the flower border and grass, and levelled the ground, what do I need to do before I lay the patio? Will it be okay to just lay some sand down first and level this? If so, what type of sand and how deep should it be? Or do I need a different base?

Also, once the patio is laid, would I need to put cement or something in between the flags as 'grouting,' or can I just fill any gaps with sand? To be honest, I'd like to keep away from using cement if possible.

This should be a really simple question in this group, but I'm new to DIY after recently buying my first house, I'm only 24, blah blah blah, excuses I know... :-)

Thanks for any help.

Ste

[BillV]

Stay away from block-paving if you're not experienced

Read the leaflets they have in store.. Depends how compacted your ground is.

A dry sand-cement mix is most often used to fill the minimum 10mm joint lines. The bags of mortar mix they sell are ok for this.

If yr house is new the ground may be too soft for yr proposed procedure and you may have to dig out 150mm...

[John Woodhall]

will have all the answers.

[ste©]

Thanks for the advice and link Bill and John.

Ste