I got a bunch of pavers for free so i was going to build a patio. Looking it up, the basic recommended way is:
3-6 inches of gravel
1-2 inches of sand
Then the pavers on top.
But that's a lot of money for gravel and sand. Or other places recommend paver base panel but that still costs almost as much as the gravel. Can I skip it? What if I just compact and level the dirt, then add an inch of sand without gravel?
Some points:
The patio will not be right next to the house so there's no concern about water pooling next to my foundation.
It will freeze in the winter, get snow in the winter, and get a lot of rain in the summer.
So is it really that big of a deal if I skip the gravel? If the pavers become uneven in a couple years then can't I just go back and fix it easily enough?
The gravel stops the sand from moving over time. Usually I see people go dow 4 or more inches and do half compaction gravel and then forms the flat base. White screening, essentially limestone sand, goes on top. The pavers are laid in the screening and when finished spread screening on top and sweep it into the cracks between the pavers.
In addition I would not avoid the gravel thats what will stop it from shifting over time. Skip the gravel and the thing will shift all over the place. Fixing it is a pain in the ass and you would need to repeatedly fix it.
All right, I guess I'll go with the gravel. How much? Can I get away with just like 2 inches of gravel and then the sand on top?
If you’re going to be a cheapshit just don’t do it. Why half ass this? So you can redo the whole thing properly in six months?
Bro you've already lost if you're cheaping out about gravel and sand or stone dust. That shit is gold. Doing anything less than the recommendation is a surefire way to get cracked and uneven pavers in a couple of years. Masonry is expensive for a reason, you gotta do everything 110% by the book if you are not a pro mason.
>Do I really need to put gravel as a base?
no. you could use anything you want, from yogurt to dogshit.
do what you want. who cares?
Yes you can go directly on dirt
It'll be a disaster in a couple years but still fully usable
Also will get weeds popping up much faster
noone uses sand anymore either, its just 1/4 inch clear gravel now
why not pour a cement slab and put a layer of foam on it
Why would you put foam under it
Why hasn't anyone mentioned it already? Compact! Compact everything! Get you a bad boy like this one.
Yes, use this until your arms hurt and then enlist your kid or anyone else to do it until their arms hurt. Level that shit until it's flat and then keep going some more
Frick that shit. Get you ass down to the rental shop and get one of these bad boys for a few hours. It’s a cryin’ shame Milwaukee doesn’t have an 18v version
if you compact it enough, then can you skip the gravel?
How long has yours been there, and what's your weather like? Does it get freezing in the winter and do you get a lot of rain?
Sometimes you can use road base instead of gravel, that shit compacts super hard and it's slightly cheaper. Depends on the quality of the road base and how much it was crushed
What the frick is wrong with this board? No you don't need gravel or sand, you can just lay the pavers in the dirt and whack them in one by one (with a rubber hammer)
Why would anything shift without gravel? Why would you need to compact dirt that's already compacted?
If you are going to add a big layer of dirt/sand/gravel you need to compact it because it might compact unevenly over time. Weeds will grow between the pavers no matter what you do and you can just pull them out.
The only issue is that whacking in pavers one by one is a lot of hard work, so its a lot easier to make the dirt reasonably flat and add a (thin) layer of sand/gravel that you can screed with a board to make it completely flat. After that you can just lay the pavers on top and everything will be fine.
If you are making a road or parking space you might need some foundation, but not for a patio that you only walk on.
You do want to sweep some (pointy not round) sand in the cracks when you are done, but that probably one or two bags for the size in your pic.
Firmly packed dirt covered in landscaping fabric seems to be working fine for me so far. Time will tell but so far I'm glad I tried the simple way first