[wfcraven]

We're in the northwest Chicago suburbs.


Okay so my wife & I are 'ankle deep' in our patio paver project. This is going over existing concrete slab that slopes down & away from the house (1/8 inch) towards the landscaping. I have a drainage line in between the patio & the landscaping to prevent any standing water. We've laid all of the edging blocks (6x6) & they've had the adhesive placed on them so they're nice & tight.

As you can see in the pictures we've laid down the roof felt (#30) going in both directions. Now we're starting to put down the brickface pavers (12x12). I want to make sure that when laying these down, we are doing this correctly. I plan on leaving about a 1/8th inch gap between the pavers & then fill them with the paver base sand. Then we'll go over it again & sweep over to make sure everything has been filled. Once that is done, we are going to apply the water repellent sealer (by Zinsser). We're anticipating this will protect the patio from weather damage as well as give it a nice glossy finish.

I want to make sure we're right about the gap between the brickface pavers. My wife wants them to be pressed together with no gap to the lines all match up. I think this could cause drainage problems (even with the sealant) as well as cause the pavers to crack due to our weather.


Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[bob22]

You might try this link:
http://www.icpi.org/myproject/US-pavers on agg base.doc
(paver association)
They suggest:
"Note: When initially placed on the bedding sand, manually installed pavers often touch each other, or their spacer bars if present. Joint widths and lines (bond lines) are straightened and aligned to specifications with rubber hammers and pry bars as paving proceeds.
B. Lay pavers in pattern(s) shown on drawings. Place units hand tight without using hammers. Make horizontal adjustments to placement of laid pavers with rubber hammers and pry bars as required.

Note: Contact manufacturer of interlocking concrete paver units for recommended joint widths.

C. Provide joints between pavers between [1/16 in. and 3/16 in. (2 and 5 mm)] wide. No more than 5% of the joints shall exceed [1/4 in. (6 mm)] wide to achieve straight bond lines.
D. Joint (bond) lines shall not deviate more than ±1/2 in. (±15 mm) over 50 ft. (15 m) from string lines.
E. Fill gaps at the edges of the paved area with cut pavers or edge units.
F. Cut pavers to be placed along the edge with a [double blade paver splitter or] masonry saw."


I don't know if your pictures show the installation or just a trial layout but if you are working from perimeter in towards the center you may run into a problem when you get there (they won't fit). Work from one side to the other, perhaps from house wall outwards. Good luck.

 

[DUDE!]

I'm just curious why you'd use roof felt underneath. It'll probably keep moisture from coming up but will also keep it from going down.

 

[wfcraven]

thanks this was actually very helpful.

the reason we put the roof felt down was to make sure we didn't have any weeds possible growing up in between the pavers. granted we don't have any weeds at all with the slab, we just didn't want to risk it. we decided to go with the roofing felt since it's a lot stronger than typical lawn fabric.

just finished sweeping the sand in between the pavers. i need to vacuum up the loose stuff off the grass & prep it to lay down the sealant. we'll have it done tomorrow & i'll post pics. taking a day off today for early independence day celebrating.

cheers!