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With any successful project it all starts off with good planning, a paving stone project is no different. We will arrange a time to meet at your home for an estimate and to inspect the proposed paving stone area. We will see how much organics or soft earth there is to determine how deep we will need to excavate and what type of compaction equipment is needed. Newly built homes typically will need more earth excavated and different kinds of compaction equipment since the earth has not had many, many years of weathering to make it settle completely and firm up naturally. If you live in an older home there can still be variables where you may need extra ground preparation to lay your paving stones. Some of these variables could be areas which had an old garden in it with lots of garden topsoil or organic matter, if you come across wet soils or if you are working in an area where there use to be a wood deck or another structure that would of sheltered the soil underneath from being weathered.
After our initial meeting we will email you a detailed estimate breaking down all of the items of the project and send you some paving stone suggestions. We will answer any questions you may have that way you are clear about what you are getting. Once you have committed to the project we will finalize the materials by choosing the kind of paving stones, sizes and colours. We will also agree on the layout and send you a detailed sketch or an auto cad design to be approved. Once all the details are approved we will have you sign off on the project and set a time frame for the work to start and be completed. Most of our paving stone projects are completed within a weeks time frame or less. Within two weeks time of starting we will be in touch to set the project start date and to have underground utilities marked.
On our first day of work we will bring in machines to excavate and dispose of the earth quickly. The organics and soil are brought to a fill site where they screen out the weeds, grass and rocks from the top soil then resell the top soil. Once we have our excavation depth we will compact the soil over the paving stone area to make sure it's solid to build our foundation off of. We will use either a jumping jack rammer or our 450 lb reversible plate tamper to accomplish that.
Once we are satisfied that the soil is solid to build off of we will install a geotextile fabric that will separate the soil from the crushed gravel and allow water to pass through. This fabric will ensure that the fines in the crushed gravel will stay intact and will also keep the base from shifting if there is some movement in the soil underneath. We can then install our crushed gravel base which will be no less than 6" thick which is suitable for our cold climate. The foundation is the most important part to ensure your paving stone project will be long lasting. It takes about 70% of time spent on the job to do the excavation and the base preparation. We will once again use our 450 lb reversible plate tamper to compact the crushed gravel in lifts. We add some moisture to the crushed gravel and only tamp 3" or less at a time to get the crushed gravel to fully compact. You don't want any air pockets in your base otherwise your paving stones will slowly start to sink after they have been installed. The gravel base will be sloped away from the house just as your paving stone patio or pathway will be. We are careful to be very consistent with our base since adding too much sand to fill voids can also cause areas to sink over time.
When the crushed gravel base is completed it's time to add our bedding sand. It's important to not use a coarse 5 mm size sand and no more than 1" thick since using too much or the wrong type of sand can lead to the paving stones sinking over time as well. Our sand will be installed at the same consistent slope as our paving stone area. It has to have atleast 1" of slope for every 8' of distance to shed water away from the house and to prevent any water from pooling on the surface. After the bedding sand is installed it will be time to lay our paving stones. Most paving stones will have a gap around 1/8" or so to allow for jointing sand but some larger format paving stones will have larger gaps. The key is whatever stone you are using is to keep everything square and tight when laying. We constantly check our lines to ensure that we get a great looking final product. After everything has been laid we will make any necessary remaining cuts before it's time to clean off the paving stones in preparation for jointing sand.
Composite edge restraints are installed along the border of the area to prevent the paving stones from creeping or sliding laterally. The restraints are secured with 10" galvanized spikes and will be covered by the lawn or garden once the rest of landscaping is completed. Once the edge restraints are secured and area has been cleaned off the we run our smaller plate tamper over the paving stone area. This will help even out the entire surface and seat the pavers into the bedding sand. After we have made 2 passes over the entire area with our tamper we will be good to sweep in our jointing sand. We use polymeric jointing sand which has an adhesive in it that makes the sand harden in the joints. It seals the surface, prevents weed growth, erosion and insects from invading especially ants. Once we have swept in the sand we run the plate tamper over the surface again to help consolidate it into the joints. We then sweep in more sand so the joints are full to within 1/8" of the top of the paving stones then clean off the entire surface so we can activate the adhesive with some water.
After we have completed the polymeric jointing sand we will have everyone stay off of it for the sand to set up and harden. We will clean up our working areas and remove any debris and you will be ready to use your new paving stone patios and pathways for decades to come. All of our paving stone installs come with a 5 year warranty where we will repair any areas that have uneven settling 1/2" or greater free of charge.
Click below to read what advantages paving stones have over poured concrete. https://www.westernelementslandscaping.ca/blog