How To Lay Block Paving

The first stage is to remove your existing driveway, this could be either concrete, tarmac or concrete flags. The use of a mini digger which can be hired from Hirebase makes this easier and is normally completed within one day with all the debris placed into a skip and taken away

If you don't feel confident driving a mini digger then get someone to do this for you as removing the existing driveway by hand digging will take much longer to do

Cover the total area of your driveway with a geotextile layer which helps prevent the intermixing of the sub soil or clay and the hardcore yet still permits water to flow freely. This is available from your local Buildbase or Travis Perkins Builders Merchants and is called many names including terram, geotextile layer, weed control fabric or weed control membrane

For smaller areas where the large roller can't access a vibrating plate is used to compact the hardcore. The compacting of the hardcore is completed when we are satisfied that the sub base of your new drive is firm and has no soft spots. If any area is still soft it needs to be dug out and removed and replaced with more hardcore which is compacted

Using a tight string line to keep the front edge of the edging block in a straight line, the blocks are laid on a semi dry mix of 3 parts sand to 1 part cement and hauched front and back to hold in place

Zone 2 grit sand is laid to the entire area approx. 30mm higher than the finished height to allow for compacting. Different parts of the country have different grades of sand and as a rule of thumb get the coarse grit sand rather than a fine grain sand.

Do not use building sand as it is too soft a type of sand plus when it gets wet it turns into a slurry, over a period in time the sand laying coarse will start to wash away underneath the block paved driveway and the block paving will start to loose its flat appearance and start to hold water in the low area

Using a spade in a swinging motion you need to level the sand roughly to the correct height

Once you have filled the entire area with sand this needs to be compacted with your vibrating plate, you will see the lines and your footprints going less and less after going over your sand 2 - 3 times. Continue until you don't leave any marks on the sand when you walk over it.

It’s advisable to have your sand harder and higher than to leave any low soft spots

To get a perfectly flat bed for your pavers to lay on you can use 18mm galvanised steel electrical duct, the type what are used by electricians for putting cables through, they are not expensive but are better than using timber because the piece of timber or aluminum you use to screed the sand will slide along them much easier

Using a tight string line to get the pole to the correct finished height prior to screeding the sand, they are checked for being level or falling towards any drains, 1:60 fall is required, that's 1" in height to 60" in length minimum fall to ensure any surface water disburses into your drainage system or soak a way

The next stage is to commence laying the block paving, the full blocks are laid first to a straight line either using a string line or an aluminum straight edge and then continue laying the blocks until the total area of your drive is completed.

The block can be laid either square to the house or on a 45 degree angle. On this drive the full blocks started at the front corner of the house working towards the boundary edge restraint. It was done this way so full blocks showed all round the house and any cuts were only visible at the garden side of the drive

When all the cut blocks are in place brush all the driveway to remove any broken pieces of block or dust to ensure they don't get down the joints between the block paving.

Brush kiln dried sand over the entire area making sure all the joints are full to the top prior to giving them the final compacting with the plate vibrator, you can leave surplus sand on top of the the block pave driveway so when the vibrating plate passes over it will spread it about filling any joint which may require more sand

The driveway is now completed and ready for you to use.