The cross-section
How a paver base is built
Read down from the top. These are typical depths, and your estimate states yours.
- 01Top
Step 1: Pavers
Concrete pavers chosen for the load: 60 mm (about 2⅜ in.) for a patio or walk, 80 mm (about 3⅛ in.) for a driveway. Laid tight in the pattern you picked, cut at the edges, never forced.
- 02Locks it
Step 2: Joint sand
Swept into every joint, then the surface is compacted again so the pavers lock together. A last pass the day after, once the sand has settled.
- 03About 1 in.
Step 3: Bedding sand
One inch of coarse sand, screeded flat. It levels the pavers. It isn't structure, so we never use it to fill low spots in the base.
- 044–6 in. patio, 8–12 in. driveway
Step 4: Compacted stone base
Crushed stone spread in lifts of about 4 in. and run over with a plate compactor, lift after lift. Thicker where the soil is soft or the load is a truck. Your depth is written in your estimate.
- 05When the dig calls for it
Step 5: Fabric, where the soil needs it
Much of central Ohio is clay. Where it's soft or holds water, geotextile fabric goes under the stone so the base doesn't sink into the soil.
- 06Before any stone
Step 6: Dug-out, compacted soil
We take out the sod and topsoil, shape the soil underneath to fall away from the house, and compact it before any stone arrives. A patio falls about ¼ in. per foot.
By use
Patio and walk, or driveway
What changes when a vehicle drives on it.
| Driveway | Patio and walk | |
|---|---|---|
| Paver thickness | Driveway80 mm, about 3⅛ in. | Patio and walk60 mm, about 2⅜ in. |
| Stone base, typical | Driveway8 to 12 in. | Patio and walk4 to 6 in. |
| Compaction | DrivewayIn lifts of about 4 in., more of them | Patio and walkIn lifts of about 4 in. |
| Fabric | DrivewayWhere the soil is soft or wet | Patio and walkWhere the soil is soft or wet |
| Edge restraint | DrivewayAll sides, anchored | Patio and walkAll sides |
| Fall | DrivewaySet to the apron and the drain | Patio and walkAbout ¼ in. per foot, away from the house |
What we won't do
Shortcuts that look fine until the first winter
Any of these saves a crew a day. None of them are in an estimate of ours.
Lay on unprepared soil
Pavers on topsoil sink where the grass roots rot.
Fill with sand instead of stone
Sand holds water and moves. Stone locks.
Compact once, at the top
Each lift is compacted before the next goes on.
Skip the edge
Without restraint the pavers spread and the joints open.
Fill low spots with bedding sand
The bed is one inch. A thick bed settles unevenly.
Dig without calling 811
Public utilities are marked before the first shovel.
How we build
See your yard's cross-section on the estimate
Every layer, every depth, in writing.