I want to thank you for the videos that you post. They provide insight into your profession and are informative. Intended or not, the videos also provide encouragement for some of us DIY'ers. About 2 months ago, my wife and I made the decision to build/install a patio in an eyesore area right next to our home. Long story short, I have not ever built a patio before, but I am good with math and God has blessed me with a higher than normal amount of determination. Your videos have given me the direction needed to start this project. I started the project 2 weeks ago, we have an area that is 192" wide and 152" long at an approximate depth of 12". I went a foot deep because of organics in the soil and because I ran into three different soil types; clay, sand, and a vein of gravel. This weekend I will be putting in the 3/4 minus (hoping 9" is enough correction), the leveling agent, and the pavers. Question: For the leveling agent, we were going to use cement sand/leveling sand but I see that you use chip stone, is it okay to use the sand or do you recommend chip stone? Also, if I use the sand do I need to run the plate compactor before laying the pavers? Again, thank you for your videos they are truly appreciated.
Thank you very much for the feedback, I love receiving comments like this. I truly enjoy the work I do and wanted to share it with others here on RUclips. Giving DIY'ers enough confidence to try a project on their own was a big goal of mine when starting this channel. I want others to realize they can build a very nice outdoor living space on their own with a little hard work. Glad you are trying it for yourself. It sounds like you are doing great with the excavation, glad to hear that you will be using 3/4 inch clear stone for the base. I would strongly reccomend not using sand. The most important aspect of any install for me is the chip stone bedding material. It holds up so much longer than sand does and allows water to flow through freely. Sand is more of a sponge and then sand washes out / migrates very easily. You will absolutely be lifting up sunken pavers within 3-5 years if you use sand. The 3/8 inch - less crushed, clean stone for the leveling agent is key to the longevity of the project. If you use chip stone, you only need to compact the pavers during the poly sand process and they will be solid. Thanks again for the feedback and support, good luck on your project! ✌
Absolutely, it is great for cold and hot climates. It is all about proper drainage under your pavers, the clean crushed stone allows water to drain freely. 👌✌
Thank you man great job andfollowed by good instruction better than evryone on youtube nowdays. Im from sweden and i see konstructuon is diffrent a bit diffrent but those methods would work much betyer with just stone than powder
No problem, thank you! This method is excellent and far better than base material with sand and fines in it. This method allows water to travel through freely. Here is another video I made to explain the method in much more detail, here is a link if you are interested 👉ruclips.net/video/ChaJe3JqD6I/видео.html
Just starting watching your videos last night. Great videos a lot of good info. I’m in Southern Maine we do landscape construction and property maintenance. We do all are installs with open base now as well. I self taught myself how to do open base. So it’s informative seeing someone else’s technics. Do you have any videos that you get into depth with how you set your grades and prep and level your 3/4” stone base before you get the the point of setting your screed rods? With a larger area do you compact your 3/4” stone base? We’ve been compacting are stone base in lifts like we used to with gravel still. Wondering if this isn’t necessary? Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear you are using open grade base. Here is a video that explains my backfill process more ruclips.net/video/fDe3tMZQY5o/видео.html
Don't you want to grade the subbase, to have the water at the bottom of the paver base moving in the right direction for best drainage? The additional grade you do at the top of the 3/4 inch base is so that the surface of the pavers will separately move water at the surface in the same direction, towards the main drainage channels?
Thank you for the video. I'm planning to do a paver patio for a gazebo kit this spring, would you recommend using Gator Base instead of the clean aggregate? I'm from Boston, MA. Thanks
No problem, I would definitely recommend the 3/4 clean stone. The gator base just is not sufficient in my opinion, I used it a couple times, not a big fan... ✌
Hi. Thks for your tips on the screed bars. Question: How do you approach a single large area e.g. 11m x 6.5m and ensure the final result is flat and pitched evenly across the entire area?
I am a solo DIYer loving your videos. My 600 sf patio is almost ready for bedding layer and screeding. I am following ALL your advise! I wish I had a Benny but its going slow and smooth so far. I am ordering “chip stone” next week and want to know how much extra to order for your 1” bedding layer, do you end up using more or less on average than 1”. Do you have some areas where you end up with 1.25” or more areas where you end up with less than an inch.
Very cool! I hope the technique I use is working well for you. I usually do the math for 1.5 inches to be safe. Sometimes you lift the pipes a half inch or so to set them perfect, and lifting them with chip stone is easier than base rock for sure… ✌🏻
@@TheChristianHardscaper ok, I'm out here in California. Angelus stone recommends 18" of specific layers. We aren't going to go that deep because we won't have any cars driving on it so we were going to do 10" total with 4" of #57, 2" of #8 and then 4" of the permeable paver stones with #8 in-between. If we were to do the 2" of #8, would we need a larger screed size in order to get the 2" layer?
After watching a few videos I think I'd rather use this premium gravel for a base. I'm new to pavers and just trying to do some areas around my house. I did a small area several months ago and it's decent, used the "paver base" from HD. I started a new area with 16"x16" pavers and those are a little harder to get level w a pitch. I don't have a truck so going to a landscape yard for a small amount of gravel may be complicated in a car.
This bedding stone is by far the best in my opinion. I would recommend getting a delivery of the stone, Most landscape supply yards will offer delivery. It may be a kind of expensive charge but worth it in the end.
I've been watching..studying all you're projects b4 I start mine. I'm really learning, enjoying and deeply appreciating all this help that you're giving your viewers! I'm really believing I'm going to do this! LOL! Thanks Benny, since I know your name, and.... I'm deferring to "Chris L" for you! Two questions, though I know I have many. more... 1. How long is the level you are using to screed and 2. what is that orange mallet thingy? I found a 4 lb. dead blow hammer on Amazon...would that work? You guys are doing an amazing job...thank you!
Nice, glad to hear the videos have been helpful! My name is Kyle, I know it never gets brought up in the videos... I use a 4 ft and 6 ft level in this video. And my hammers are dead blow hammers. So the 4lb hammer you found on amazon would probably be just fine. Good luck with your project and thanks for the support! ✌
Love the vids. Just wondering what you would use if you didn't have that chip stone available locally? No places nearby me have it, they just carry the same old stuff like stone dust.
Thank you, if you cant find chip stone, I would call around for (crushed pea stone) That is usually about 3/8 - 1/2 inch in size. It is not like regular pea stone which is more rounded, not angular. Its going to be a little bigger than chip stone and may be a little harder to screed... but it will hold up far better than sand or stone dust. If you can't find that, even regular, rounded pea stone is better than sand or stone dust ✌
Hey nice vid. Where i live the smallest stone i can find for a screeding layer is 6 to 16 mm ( in US size its 1/4 to 5/8 of an inch ) Is this going to be ok to use as a screed layer, or will it be too big? I don't really want to use sand, if i don't have to. Thanks
Thank you. I think that size will be fine, much better than sand even if it is a bit harder to screed. Sand shifts, washes out and migrates to easily. It's just not good for under pavers. But with that stone you are talking about, you may have to take out a few big stones here and there but I bet the majority will be smaller than 5/8. ✌
@The Christian Hardscaper Thanks, yes, after watching your videos, I'd rather use stone, so I'll give it a try. Thanks for your feedback. It is very much appreciated!
I had exactly the same question. I had purchased 3/4 and thought it would be too unstable until I saw your video. Thanks for all your advice...it really helps a bunch (from up here in Canada 🍁. Cheers!)
" Techo-Bloc " (Blu-60) pavers with a color tone of "Chestnut Brown ". The border pavers are also made by Techo-Bloc and they are called "Villagio" with a color tone of (Merlot).
Yes, we rake it out close to final grade by eye and check with our screed pipes. Sometimes with a string or laser level. But by eye and by setting the pipes, we can get a very good idea of our slopes and end paver height.
The length of the grade will not change the 1/8th pitch, that is the minimum slope I put on all my installs. Whether it’s a 10’ walkway or 30’ patio 👍🏻
I don't recommend PVC at all. It's too flexible, you won't get a perfectly level surface. They shift and move like crazy. Somewhat thick gauge steel is the only thing I would recommend. These gas pipes are the absolute best thing I have used.✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper hey so I'm using 1/4-#10 for the besding layer. Will it compact 1/4 if i leave it 1/4 higher? Some say that it will only compact 1/16 to 1/8
Only the first layer that we put on the sub base. After that no, it’s not necessary in an application like this. Once raked out, clean crushed aggregate is 98% compacted already 👍🏻
@@TheChristianHardscaper Thanks for the reply from australia. I just did my driveway using concrete sand so hope it holds up. A lot of pavers in my area use crushed dust or quater minus. But to me thats wrong as it wont be porous.
You will be just fine as you are in Australia. The main reason for the method I use is because I live in Massachusetts where we get hard freezes and thaws in the winter. The stone holds onto water less than concrete sand. And that helps prevent the material from shifting a lot through the winter ✌
I want to thank you for the videos that you post. They provide insight into your profession and are informative. Intended or not, the videos also provide encouragement for some of us DIY'ers. About 2 months ago, my wife and I made the decision to build/install a patio in an eyesore area right next to our home. Long story short, I have not ever built a patio before, but I am good with math and God has blessed me with a higher than normal amount of determination. Your videos have given me the direction needed to start this project. I started the project 2 weeks ago, we have an area that is 192" wide and 152" long at an approximate depth of 12". I went a foot deep because of organics in the soil and because I ran into three different soil types; clay, sand, and a vein of gravel. This weekend I will be putting in the 3/4 minus (hoping 9" is enough correction), the leveling agent, and the pavers.
Question: For the leveling agent, we were going to use cement sand/leveling sand but I see that you use chip stone, is it okay to use the sand or do you recommend chip stone? Also, if I use the sand do I need to run the plate compactor before laying the pavers?
Again, thank you for your videos they are truly appreciated.
Thank you very much for the feedback, I love receiving comments like this. I truly enjoy the work I do and wanted to share it with others here on RUclips. Giving DIY'ers enough confidence to try a project on their own was a big goal of mine when starting this channel. I want others to realize they can build a very nice outdoor living space on their own with a little hard work. Glad you are trying it for yourself.
It sounds like you are doing great with the excavation, glad to hear that you will be using 3/4 inch clear stone for the base. I would strongly reccomend not using sand. The most important aspect of any install for me is the chip stone bedding material. It holds up so much longer than sand does and allows water to flow through freely. Sand is more of a sponge and then sand washes out / migrates very easily. You will absolutely be lifting up sunken pavers within 3-5 years if you use sand. The 3/8 inch - less crushed, clean stone for the leveling agent is key to the longevity of the project. If you use chip stone, you only need to compact the pavers during the poly sand process and they will be solid.
Thanks again for the feedback and support, good luck on your project! ✌
Do you still recommend chip stone for hot summer and mild winter like Dallas, TX? Thank you for a great video.
Absolutely, it is great for cold and hot climates. It is all about proper drainage under your pavers, the clean crushed stone allows water to drain freely. 👌✌
Thank you man great job andfollowed by good instruction better than evryone on youtube nowdays.
Im from sweden and i see konstructuon is diffrent a bit diffrent but those methods would work much betyer with just stone than powder
No problem, thank you! This method is excellent and far better than base material with sand and fines in it. This method allows water to travel through freely. Here is another video I made to explain the method in much more detail, here is a link if you are interested 👉ruclips.net/video/ChaJe3JqD6I/видео.html
So helpful! A million thanks!
No problem, glad it was helpful! ✌
Just starting watching your videos last night. Great videos a lot of good info. I’m in Southern Maine we do landscape construction and property maintenance. We do all are installs with open base now as well. I self taught myself how to do open base. So it’s informative seeing someone else’s technics. Do you have any videos that you get into depth with how you set your grades and prep and level your 3/4” stone base before you get the the point of setting your screed rods? With a larger area do you compact your 3/4” stone base? We’ve been compacting are stone base in lifts like we used to with gravel still. Wondering if this isn’t necessary? Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback, glad to hear you are using open grade base. Here is a video that explains my backfill process more ruclips.net/video/fDe3tMZQY5o/видео.html
Don't you want to grade the subbase, to have the water at the bottom of the paver base moving in the right direction for best drainage? The additional grade you do at the top of the 3/4 inch base is so that the surface of the pavers will separately move water at the surface in the same direction, towards the main drainage channels?
Thank you for the video. I'm planning to do a paver patio for a gazebo kit this spring, would you recommend using Gator Base instead of the clean aggregate? I'm from Boston, MA. Thanks
No problem, I would definitely recommend the 3/4 clean stone. The gator base just is not sufficient in my opinion, I used it a couple times, not a big fan... ✌
Sounds good. Thank you for taking the time to reply. Keep up the good work.
Hi. Thks for your tips on the screed bars. Question: How do you approach a single large area e.g. 11m x 6.5m and ensure the final result is flat and pitched evenly across the entire area?
I’m doing a patio now that will be a video next week and I actually go over that topic. But the trick is to have a lot of screed rails…
I am a solo DIYer loving your videos. My 600 sf patio is almost ready for bedding layer and screeding. I am following ALL your advise! I wish I had a Benny but its going slow and smooth so far. I am ordering “chip stone” next week and want to know how much extra to order for your 1” bedding layer, do you end up using more or less on average than 1”. Do you have some areas where you end up with 1.25” or more areas where you end up with less than an inch.
Very cool! I hope the technique I use is working well for you. I usually do the math for 1.5 inches to be safe. Sometimes you lift the pipes a half inch or so to set them perfect, and lifting them with chip stone is easier than base rock for sure… ✌🏻
If you want a thicker depth of the #8 stone, do you use a larger screed? also, you don't use two different screed sizes? all the same size pipe?
I only use 1-1.5 inches of bedding stone, anymore than that can cause issues down the road.
@@TheChristianHardscaper ok, I'm out here in California. Angelus stone recommends 18" of specific layers. We aren't going to go that deep because we won't have any cars driving on it so we were going to do 10" total with 4" of #57, 2" of #8 and then 4" of the permeable paver stones with #8 in-between. If we were to do the 2" of #8, would we need a larger screed size in order to get the 2" layer?
@@rebeccaliu5502 you can still use the smaller screed rails, just spread an inch of #8 out roughly then set your screed rails on the stone
After watching a few videos I think I'd rather use this premium gravel for a base. I'm new to pavers and just trying to do some areas around my house. I did a small area several months ago and it's decent, used the "paver base" from HD. I started a new area with 16"x16" pavers and those are a little harder to get level w a pitch. I don't have a truck so going to a landscape yard for a small amount of gravel may be complicated in a car.
This bedding stone is by far the best in my opinion. I would recommend getting a delivery of the stone, Most landscape supply yards will offer delivery. It may be a kind of expensive charge but worth it in the end.
I've been watching..studying all you're projects b4 I start mine. I'm really learning, enjoying and deeply appreciating all this help that you're giving your viewers! I'm really believing I'm going to do this! LOL! Thanks Benny, since I know your name, and.... I'm deferring to "Chris L" for you! Two questions, though I know I have many. more... 1. How long is the level you are using to screed and 2. what is that orange mallet thingy? I found a 4 lb. dead blow hammer on Amazon...would that work? You guys are doing an amazing job...thank you!
Nice, glad to hear the videos have been helpful! My name is Kyle, I know it never gets brought up in the videos... I use a 4 ft and 6 ft level in this video. And my hammers are dead blow hammers. So the 4lb hammer you found on amazon would probably be just fine. Good luck with your project and thanks for the support! ✌
Love the vids. Just wondering what you would use if you didn't have that chip stone available locally? No places nearby me have it, they just carry the same old stuff like stone dust.
Thank you, if you cant find chip stone, I would call around for (crushed pea stone) That is usually about 3/8 - 1/2 inch in size. It is not like regular pea stone which is more rounded, not angular. Its going to be a little bigger than chip stone and may be a little harder to screed... but it will hold up far better than sand or stone dust. If you can't find that, even regular, rounded pea stone is better than sand or stone dust ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper Thanks!
Hey nice vid. Where i live the smallest stone i can find for a screeding layer is 6 to 16 mm ( in US size its 1/4 to 5/8 of an inch ) Is this going to be ok to use as a screed layer, or will it be too big? I don't really want to use sand, if i don't have to. Thanks
Thank you. I think that size will be fine, much better than sand even if it is a bit harder to screed. Sand shifts, washes out and migrates to easily. It's just not good for under pavers. But with that stone you are talking about, you may have to take out a few big stones here and there but I bet the majority will be smaller than 5/8. ✌
@The Christian Hardscaper Thanks, yes, after watching your videos, I'd rather use stone, so I'll give it a try. Thanks for your feedback. It is very much appreciated!
No problem at all! 👍🏻
I had exactly the same question. I had purchased 3/4 and thought it would be too unstable until I saw your video. Thanks for all your advice...it really helps a bunch (from up here in Canada 🍁. Cheers!)
Another great video. Approximately how many inches of 3/4" clear are you using for the base?
Thanks! I use 6-8 inches on most installs, 8-12 inches on installs with really bad sub-soils.
Very nice job.
✌🏻
What are the two paver products used on this walkway? Thanks!
" Techo-Bloc " (Blu-60) pavers with a color tone of "Chestnut Brown ". The border pavers are also made by Techo-Bloc and they are called "Villagio" with a color tone of (Merlot).
How do you grade the 3/4" #57? Just by eye? I feel like you need slopes right before putting the chip stone or the screed pipes.
Yes, we rake it out close to final grade by eye and check with our screed pipes. Sometimes with a string or laser level. But by eye and by setting the pipes, we can get a very good idea of our slopes and end paver height.
Thanks for sharing!
No problem, thanks for watching!
Does it matter the length of the grade? Should the 1/8th pitch translate across 18 to 20 feet? Hope that question makes sense
The length of the grade will not change the 1/8th pitch, that is the minimum slope I put on all my installs. Whether it’s a 10’ walkway or 30’ patio 👍🏻
It’s an 1/8th inch per foot, translates to 2% slope
If we can’t find granite chip stone. Can we use limestone chip or slate chip?
You certainly can 👍🏻
What about PVC instead of galvanized?
I don't recommend PVC at all. It's too flexible, you won't get a perfectly level surface. They shift and move like crazy. Somewhat thick gauge steel is the only thing I would recommend. These gas pipes are the absolute best thing I have used.✌
How do you screed a raised patio so that the paver sots flush with the cement and borders
You just need to set your pipes 1/4 inch higher than the wall that is retaining the grade. Then you can compact them down to sit flush.
Thank you so much. This helps a lot!
@@RigoMariscal-wc1zz No problem, glad it is helpful! ✌
@@TheChristianHardscaper hey so I'm using 1/4-#10 for the besding layer. Will it compact 1/4 if i leave it 1/4 higher? Some say that it will only compact 1/16 to 1/8
Yes, 1/4" is the way to go. They will compact enough, plus you want to account for future settlement.
Do you compact the 3/4 clean stone?
Only the first layer that we put on the sub base. After that no, it’s not necessary in an application like this. Once raked out, clean crushed aggregate is 98% compacted already 👍🏻
Why not concrete sand?
Just doesn’t seem to hold up as good as this small crushed stone. I have a handful of videos explaining it, check them out ✌🏻
@@TheChristianHardscaper Thanks for the reply from australia. I just did my driveway using concrete sand so hope it holds up. A lot of pavers in my area use crushed dust or quater minus. But to me thats wrong as it wont be porous.
You will be just fine as you are in Australia. The main reason for the method I use is because I live in Massachusetts where we get hard freezes and thaws in the winter. The stone holds onto water less than concrete sand. And that helps prevent the material from shifting a lot through the winter ✌