Levelling the ground using road-base to create a hard, flat surface for paving stone, natural stone, and large format tile installations. How do I level the ground?
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35 Comments
Best video I’ve seen! Thank you it will help me tremendously with my project
What about just using high performance bedding(hpb)?
I like your video a lot. That side video of the layers and compaction makes things very clear. Thank you very much.
Thanks for the video: I have a question about garden patios.
I'm trying to lay a 10 foot x 6 foot dining area in our garden, but the ground drops about 4" corner to opposite corner. I want the patio flat, but don't know the best way to go about it. Dig out the earth to the level of the lowest corner and climb up to the flower bed? Build up the scree on the lowest corner and have a large haunch, then backfill with earth from outside it? Or add a tiny stud wall in the lowest corner?
Any advice gratefully received: I'm doing it as a 25th wedding anniversary project, so I'd like it to look nice!
Great video. As with almost everything, you can pretty much predict the quality of the final product by the quality and completeness of the preparation.
We use 10 inch base and 2 inch hpb and than the paver on top, hasn't failed me yet
4" lifts: the height of each layer before compacting? or after compacting? sorry if that's an obvious thing that needn't be asked, i just wanna do it right. shrug
Can I use Decomposed Granite For A Retaining Wall Base?
Have been researching Patio Paver Install for a few days. This is one of the few really good videos that shows detail. I knew pavers on only sand would be a disaster in a short time. Yet I was unsure how tight the 3/4- crushed road base would compact. Thanks for the video. Mama (wife) will be happy with her 11 x 21 patio.
Nice explanation. We have 3 circles of Techo-Bloc stone walls done about 15 years ago. Now the beginning of the circle walls is dropping. Plus the small section of pavers has all dropped had to hire a paving company to remove them all & reset them. Maybe we should have used a concrete slab instead of pavers with less maintenance. Every year or so i have to clean out joints & refill with pavers sand or they sink down. Plus we live in NJ with constant weather changes hot & cold.
I have noticed many companies love to break up old pavers and use them to save on crushed gravel are there disadvantages to this cost saving technique?
With that whole crew this does not look like an easy DIY job
Hi! Should I place some plastic edging around the perimeter of where I’m going to prepare the base? Or should I do that afterwards? First time trying to do this in my townhouse backyard. Thanks, great video!
The cost stung for about a year, but hiring professionals to install a retaining wall and adjacent paver area has given us so much joy. It draws you to it and gives you a retreat with company or in solitude. Both are the marrow of life.
Help please. Mom and I are too frail to do this type of thing anymore so we hired a handyman who also does landscaping to put a pea gravel area around the deck. I had him put dig out the area to about 6", put heavy duty landscape fabric down then 4" of 2b stone. But he didn't tamp the 2b before adding the pea gravel in the first section! Now it shifts a lot under foot and some 2b churns up. Mom says it's fine and it will compact by walking on it. I strongly disagree. I think I should rent a compactor for when he returns this week to finish. Will this help the stability? Will 2b compact? (Some internet sites say yes, some say no.) Your advice please?
Is this just type 1? Looks very wet and binding nicely… Mine doesnt do that and has too many larger stones to do successful screed it??
Great video. What road base are you using? Crusher Run or rock screens or something else?
Hard work but certainly worth it! Thank you for this video.
After putting down the base, crushed rock – do you laydown a SEALER before putting the asphalt down?
Hey, love the content. What would you do for base prep for paver install under a floating cement staircase that's attached to foundation? We'd like to plan the whole patio under the stairs, but unsure how to tamp and prep base area under stairs. Thanks again for the info!
The straight edge is a precision tool not a damn rake
Great instruction and video. Do you really need that much road base, or any road base at all if you have to jackhammer or use a ripper attachment on a decent-sized excavator to accomplish any ground removal? My driveway excavation just produces DG. I have had a few quotes for pavers and some companies want to go deeper to get in add and road base, compact, and then sand. Other companies have said they only need to use sand as a little base to level low spots as the compaction of the material in my driveway is better than what could be achieved by ripping it out and adding road base, recompacting. There isn't any organic material to decompose. I live in Southern, CA so there isn't a lot of rain and we live at the top of the hill and don't receive any runoff when it does. Your thoughts or advice?
First time DIYer here! Your videos are amazing and so straight forward, thank you for sharing! I have a few questions for you. Call me crazy but I am building a 14 x 14 ft large stone paver patio over an old pine tree landscape bed. It is located between my shed and house.The area is also sloped a good 8-10 inches towards the back of my shed. I cleaned out the landscape bed, pulled out roots, and used a stump grinder to get rid of the entire stump. Now I have a 3 foot hole in the middle of my patio area, ugh! I want to build a small retaining wall at the lowest point as well. What is my next steps? How do I go about setting my base floor on a slope with also building a wall? Also, do I backfill the hole with left over dirt/clay material or use gravel? Any advice would be appreciated, thank you for taking the time.
Really nice in-depth video with great information.
I have a question, My house and detached garage are about 5 ft apart from each other. I had to rip up the concrete walkway that was installed. It did not have wire mesh it was not secured to either foundation via rebar so it collapsed.
What is the best method for installing a walkway in between a port foundation and a block foundation. My goal is to put pavers on top.
I'm not sure if I should pour a slab in between the two foundations and secure them with rebar to the garage foundation and the house foundation.
I also live in an area where I'm kind of at the bottom of a gully so we get a lot of runoff and moisture. I figured a base of concrete would be best but I'm not sure.
Dude i'm trying to get my gravel base level and flat and it has been kinda kicking my a$$. I got 3/4 base cause that's all our quarry and landscapers have up here apparently. But I went got a p.o.s. harbor freight level to try your method. I'm ready to just start building already. Saving money is nice, but I been wasting too much time. And the dust in my material seems to have settled and mostly just rocks on my top layer now. Anyways thanks for the info video
What happens with drainage and puddling do you make this flat or build it on a slight slope towards the drainage ?
You have the gradient angled down towards your house?
I was told always angle it away from your house to avoid pooling , fungus mould etc
Great cutaway view. Good presentation.
In the US these are a standard way a doing things, I was actually ICP certified so I know what the standard are and have projects done according to their guidelines. I am also Dutch living in Oregon since 1984, the Dutch have no gravel , they use sand for most of their sidewalks and urban roads. I used 6 inch of sand on top of my liner and my patio looks great 10 years on.
The strenght of sand is it vertical strength, think of the beach, you can drive on compacted side of the beach sand, the weakness is action on its horizontal side of it, like when you turn you steering wheel.You need good drainage, and good side restrains, and it's easy fixing, and reuse the sand and pavers.
A good site on YouTube is stratenmaker hetklokhuis from the Netherlands. Enjoy
Thank you!!!
What is a “lift”?
What if you have to start with removing tightly compacted dirt mixed with rocks along with the healthy lawn growing from it?
I hope they never have a problem with those PVC pipes under the pavers!
Not the standard Anymore. Atleast not by ICPI. 3/4” clean stone base, 1/4” clean stone bedding material.