Home Repair and Paint Guide

Pavers are great for building patios and sidewalks. They are not very difficult to install and add a nice, finished touch to your home. Pavers last for many years as long as they are installed properly using the correct mortar.

Generally speaking, brick pavers are more robust and wear better than concrete types. With concrete, the color pigment eventually dulls and wears off the top surface. This causes them to look old and faded. Brick does not have this problem because they are the same color all the way through.

When ordering pavers, make sure they are rated for the weather extremes in your area. If you get a lot of freezing weather, they must be able to withstand very low temperatures without cracking. Pavers that resist ice and snow are fired longer in the kilns and sometimes at a hotter temperature. This transforms the soft clay into artificial stone. If brick is fired long enough, it will get so hard that it can be used for driveways under heavy loads.

Pavers can be set in sand, sand and cement mix, or mortared directly to a concrete slab. Using sand by itself isn’t a very good idea. The pavers can shift around, grass can grow between the cracks, etc. Also, water can get under the stones and wash the sand away. A sand/cement mix is not very difficult to handle. It has the advantage of preventing all the problems with sand alone, and locks everything in-place. Using a cement slab for installation is a lot of work. I would only go this way for pavers that have to handle a heavy load, such as vehicle traffic. It’s not necessary for a patio installation.

Regardless of the type of bed selected, you first have to excavate the area so the bed is thick enough to withstand temperature extremes and expected load. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions if available. If not, then use a standard bed depth of four inches.

Take your time and as with all home improvement projects, planning is the key. Make sure you have enough material on the site to complete everything once work starts. Draw an outline of the area in the dirt with a stick and step back to see how it will look. Lay the pavers on top of the ground to get a better visual and also line up any patterns you are using. If you need an extra set of hands, as a friend to help. Promise a nice cookout as a reward on your new patio. This type of bribe usually works!