Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Tuesday Sand

After excavating the hole yesterday, today we filled it with sand.  Sand is an absolutely critical part of a paver job, and I learned this from my grandfather's knee.  He never used gravel under pavers, unlike all the YouTube videos today.  More sand is better, but a good base is at least 4" deep, so that's what I've always tried to do.  Coincidentally, one shovel-depth will give you a good base, over 4" of sand.

So, today we moved sand.  I'm unable to get any equipment in the tight spaces of my backyard, but there is always the shovel and wheelbarrow drill.

That's what the base looks like.  Just a nice bed of sand, the same process that the Romans used 2000 years ago, and the same process that my grandfather used 50 years ago.  Tomorrow, we'll do the final leveling and install the pavers.  I'll be glad to be finished with this project.
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2 comments:

  1. Old NFO8:32 PM

    It still works... :-) And it'll look great when you get the pavers down.

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  2. North Texan10:20 AM

    My whole lot is sand. The deepest I've dug is around 3 feet. And it's sand all the way. It's one of the things I like best about my house. All I do is level and tamp a little and drop pavers.

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