Expected paver settlement on sand

27385 Views 5 Replies 4 Participants Last post by concretemasonry, Jun 11, 2009

istokj

Discussion Starter · Jun 5, 2009

Hi.
I am installing concrete pavers on a 6" base of compacted gravel with 1-2inch sand on top. The problem is that i need the top of the pavers to end up flush with an adjacent concrete sidewalk. I am setting the pavers over uncompacted sand about 1/2 inch above the sidewalk and will use a plate compactor to settle them (i hope) down to the sidewalk. So i have two questions:
1. How much will concrete pavers (4x8x2 3/8) settle when you run a plate compactor over them ?, and
2. If they dont settle enough will i be able to pry them out, remove some sand and re-set or will they be locked in too tightly to move (does it matter if i put polymeric joint sand into the joins before i compact them) ?

thanks for any help !

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istokj

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jun 5, 2009

pavers and sand

I appreciate the idea and i like it but.... all the paver manufacturers say to place the sand uncompacted, add joint sand, and then use a plate compactor to settle it all before adding more joint sand (even folks on this site say this) so i am a little confused. I have a few hundred installed with perhaps a thousand to go so i need to figure out what to do by this weekend. I can either pull them up, compact the sand and re-set them as you suggest or try compacting them and then adding or removing sand beneath blocks of pavers as needed..both options seem painful !

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