DIY Pavin pt 3: Laying pavers

Wow, is it the end of the year already?! Been taking a bit of time off lately working on constructing my shed, but I guess we should finish off some unfinished business first - the little paving project.

So now with the foundation of crushed rock and sand laid, you need to make sure the sand is as level as possible - I used a long straight bit of timber to sweep across the sand.

The 16 pavers to be laid are off to one side. Useful tools for this step is a rubber mallet, tile spacers (I used leftover 3mm spacers from my deck project) and ideally someone else to lift and lay the pavers for you, as they're quite heavy!

Anyway, started off carefully laying the first paver, and the first row. Use the rubber mallet to gently seat the pavers in place and to tap them closer together. If they're too close, wedge in a flat screwdrive to prise them apart.

And then (actually didn't take very long) here are all the pavers laid out.

To finish things off, I mixed up some cement to lay a cement border around the sides of the pavers, and then used PaveLok sand to sweep in between the pavers. Apparently it has some extra ingredients to stop it washing out and to stop weeds growing inbetween the pavers. I still need to seal the pavers (which will make them look nice and dark and glossy) but other projects, as usual, have interuppted me finishing things off 100%.

So, for the end of 2012, we hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years, and looking forwards to another exciting year to come!

t&t