For over 25 years I have been assisting homeowners and contractors with design & installation of brick pavers and modular retaining walls. Whether you are installing a brick paver patio, walkway, driveway, planter, or steps, a good guided plan is needed to insure a successful paver installation that is not only aesthetically pleasing but economical.
The PLANNING stage for a interlocking brick paver or modular retaining wall installation will be your easiest step in terms of labor, but probably the most important step. A poor plan of designing, ordering, or installing your brick paver project can lead to alot of frustration and unneccessay redo or repair.
For simplicity we will discuss a game plan for planning out the installation of a paver patio. We will also assume we do not need any steps to transition down. Start by taking measurements of the area that you want to install your brick paver patio and transfer the dimensions of the brick patio area onto some graph paper (boxes). I like to use 1 box = 1 sq.ft. (or linear foot) if the dimensions will fit on one sheet. If not, try making 1 box = 4 sq.ft ( or 2 linear feet). If your paver patio will have a curved design, use the garden hose to layout on the grass the shape & size that you are looking for. If you already have patio furniture, grill, or chiminea, place them in the patio area you mapped out to make sure you have enough room to move around comfortably. Take several reference measurements and transfer the points onto the graph paper.
Now, your first important piece of information needs to be calculated ... SQUARE FEET! This number is easily calculated by WIDTH X LENGTH = SQUARE FEET. When calculating FACE FEET for retaining walls, replace the WIDTH with HEIGHT in the equation above. By transfering your design to the graph paper, you can easily count the boxes to determine the square feet of your pavers patio, especially in a curved design. This square foot number of your brick paver installation will be the crucial information used for ordering your brick pavers, base materials, and other paver products.
The next important piece of information that you will need to know is the ...LEVEL of the EXISTING GRADE! This the level of the land in the area that you will be installing your brick paver patio. This information is very important for ordering your base materials and also important for how deep you need to dig down to install your paver base. We use a surveyors level to perform our brick paver installations but most homeowners do not need to rent one to obtain this information. Get a spool of string, a few small stakes, and line level bubble. Install a stake at the house and tie the string at the level you want your patio pavers at the house. Install another stake at the farthest point out of your patio. Pull the string from the stake at the house and wrap around the new stake while using the line level bubble on the string. Pull the string tight and wrap around the outside stake so the bubble shows level. Mark this spot on the outside stake with a marker and remove the string if you like. In the brick paver industry we will use a rule of thumb for slope of 1 inch per 10ft length. This is just a reference and you can use any slope as long as it is a "positive pitch" away from the home. The more slope you have the better but remember you do not want to create a brick paver patio that is a ramp or your furniture is leaning. 1 inch per 10ft lengths is not that noticeable to the naked eye and seems to work quite well in drainage. For our example paver patio, we will say the outside stake (patio edge) is 20ft out from the house stake. So, we will make a second mark (another color) on the outside stake 2 inches (1" per 10ft) down from the mark that was level. This will represent the height of our patio out in the yard. This is an important reference point so we can see how high our paver patio will be out in the yard. You will be able to determine whether you can just landscape up to the brick pavers or whether you will need a retaining wall to retain the patio.
The last piece of important information will come from re installing the string line from the house stake and wrapping the string around the outside stake where the outside paver patio height was marked with the slope. Now you can measure down @9-10" from this string line to reach the bottom of your digging for installing the proper paver base materials. This will answer one of the most frequently asked questions from homeowners, "How far do I dig down?".
We will go into more detail about prepping for your paver patio in Step 2 but this PLANNING stage will set the "ground work" for a better brick paver patio installation. This is the stage to mentally obsess about the details before you begin to stress your muscles with labor intensive steps, so enjoy!
Sep 20, 2009
Sep 9, 2009
New Trends in Brick Pavers
It is always hard to reinvent the wheel, but there are some new trends in Brick Pavers. After installing, repairing, cleaning, sealing, and maintaining brick paver patios, sidewalks, & driveways for over 25 years, you begin to see the same old - same old designs and installations of paving stones and modular retaining walls. Below are some new brick paver products that are rejuvenating the paver industry.
PERMEABLE PAVERS:
This is the new HOT trend in brick pavers today! With the need for more environmental conscious pavements, these interlocking concrete pavers meet the requirement. Commercial and Industrial parking lots & roadways are pushing these permeable pavers to the forefront. Now most brick paver manufacturers, like Unilock or Fendt, are producing many new styles and colors that are appealing to the brick paver residential market. Permeable pavers basically allow ground or run off water to filter faster through the pavers down into the subsoil or aggregate base while taking the strain off storm drains. The permeable paver design is a simple adjustment to the paver joints which are filled with an aggregate stone thus allowing for quick filtration below.
POLYMERIC SAND :
I believe this has been one of the best improvement products for brick pavers in the past 5 years. Polymeric sand is paver joint sand which has polymers in it to allow the joint sand to harden in the paver joints after sweeping in and wetting. This creates harden paver joints which will deter any weed growth or tracking into the home or pool. The other benefit of polymeric sand is that it is flexible enough for frost movement. It is NOT permanent and will require yearly touch ups but all my customers have been impressed. Polymeric sand is ever improving with more colors, strengths, and reduced setting time, and accessibility.
PAVER QUILTING :
Brick Paver manufacturers are scurrying to produce new colors, textures, and shapes but the biggest push in paving stones is to mix and match these colors, textures, and shapes. This is referred to as "paver quilting", much like your grandmother making that stylish xmas quilt that you pull out once a year when she visits. This is a big advantage for brick pavers over stamped concrete, asphalt, and decks. I have to admit as a contractor it is a big headache to get the client to pick more colors, textures, and shapes, as well as, obtain the materials in a cost effective manner. But I am all for ways to install creative designs that consumers want and will enjoy for years to come. For many years it was the same old circle patterns or herringbones that flooded the paver patio market. Paver quilting is rejuvenating the brick paver appearance and advantage over other pavements.
OUTDOOR GRILLS & FIREPLACES :
The flexibility of brick pavers and retaining wall blocks have resulted in creative minds designing and installing outdoor grills, fireplaces, pizza ovens, and sitting walls. As the American public values the outdoor space or paver patio area as an additional room in their home, the need for grilling paver products and fireplace wall products have exploded. Contractors now have a choice of pre- built units or custom designing around the clients needs or appliances. Most of your brick paver installers are upselling these products to create a spectacular brick paver patio experience. Though these outdoor grills, fireplaces, ovens, or sitting walls come at a substantial cost, they are functional and permanent.
As an advocate of the brick paver market, I am encouraged by the steps made in producing new ideas and products that will expand the usefulness and functionality of brick pavers and modular retaining walls systems. When paving stones and landscape blocks can be used and enjoyed on a daily basis, the benefit of pavers is optimized.
PERMEABLE PAVERS:
This is the new HOT trend in brick pavers today! With the need for more environmental conscious pavements, these interlocking concrete pavers meet the requirement. Commercial and Industrial parking lots & roadways are pushing these permeable pavers to the forefront. Now most brick paver manufacturers, like Unilock or Fendt, are producing many new styles and colors that are appealing to the brick paver residential market. Permeable pavers basically allow ground or run off water to filter faster through the pavers down into the subsoil or aggregate base while taking the strain off storm drains. The permeable paver design is a simple adjustment to the paver joints which are filled with an aggregate stone thus allowing for quick filtration below.
POLYMERIC SAND :
I believe this has been one of the best improvement products for brick pavers in the past 5 years. Polymeric sand is paver joint sand which has polymers in it to allow the joint sand to harden in the paver joints after sweeping in and wetting. This creates harden paver joints which will deter any weed growth or tracking into the home or pool. The other benefit of polymeric sand is that it is flexible enough for frost movement. It is NOT permanent and will require yearly touch ups but all my customers have been impressed. Polymeric sand is ever improving with more colors, strengths, and reduced setting time, and accessibility.
PAVER QUILTING :
Brick Paver manufacturers are scurrying to produce new colors, textures, and shapes but the biggest push in paving stones is to mix and match these colors, textures, and shapes. This is referred to as "paver quilting", much like your grandmother making that stylish xmas quilt that you pull out once a year when she visits. This is a big advantage for brick pavers over stamped concrete, asphalt, and decks. I have to admit as a contractor it is a big headache to get the client to pick more colors, textures, and shapes, as well as, obtain the materials in a cost effective manner. But I am all for ways to install creative designs that consumers want and will enjoy for years to come. For many years it was the same old circle patterns or herringbones that flooded the paver patio market. Paver quilting is rejuvenating the brick paver appearance and advantage over other pavements.
OUTDOOR GRILLS & FIREPLACES :
The flexibility of brick pavers and retaining wall blocks have resulted in creative minds designing and installing outdoor grills, fireplaces, pizza ovens, and sitting walls. As the American public values the outdoor space or paver patio area as an additional room in their home, the need for grilling paver products and fireplace wall products have exploded. Contractors now have a choice of pre- built units or custom designing around the clients needs or appliances. Most of your brick paver installers are upselling these products to create a spectacular brick paver patio experience. Though these outdoor grills, fireplaces, ovens, or sitting walls come at a substantial cost, they are functional and permanent.
As an advocate of the brick paver market, I am encouraged by the steps made in producing new ideas and products that will expand the usefulness and functionality of brick pavers and modular retaining walls systems. When paving stones and landscape blocks can be used and enjoyed on a daily basis, the benefit of pavers is optimized.
Aug 23, 2009
Brick Paver Sealing : Spraying vs. Rolling
I am often asked what is the best method for applying brick paver sealant. The two methods that are most common for sealing brick pavers is "pump" spraying or rolling on with a foam roller. I have brick paver contractors that swear by both methods, but from my 25 year experience I prefer the "pump" spraying method.
Starting first with the Rolling method of applying brick paver sealant, I find that my time in applying the paver sealant is less. The special foam slitted roller spreads the sealer pretty evenly and efficiently. The rolling method of applying paver sealant will stretch the sealer so you will not have very much waste. The biggest setback that I experience when rolling on brick paver sealant is that the roller will sometimes roll the joint sand over the top of the brick pavers, especially if the joints are wide. Also, I am not satisfied with the amount of sealer that pours into the sand joints. Even though the paver sealant companies push their special rollers, I have yet to find one that satisfies me.
The Spraying method is my preferred method of applying brick paver sealer. When applying sealer for paver patios, walkways, and driveways, this method will apply sealer very generously while allowing sealer to soak into the sand joints as well. As long as you apply the paver sealer on a windless day, the coverage can be generous and effortless. You will use up more sealer with this brick paver applying method. The biggest headache for us brick paver contractors is that there are no real good brick paver sealer sprayers. Even the high dollar commercial sprayers require so much cleaning & maintenance to perform properly, most of us contractors have resolved to the cheap and disposable "pump" garden sprayers. After each brick paver sealing job, I just throw them away. The thermoplastics in the paver sealer harden up & eat up the rubber seals on the sprayers and make them unusable unless you thoroughly clean them out with acetone or thinner. I usually purchase a sealer sprayer under $20 at Lowe's or Home Depot. I feel my time is worth more than the actual cost of the sprayers.
No matter what brick paver sealing method you use, make sure you seal patio stones & retaining walls on a dry sunny day. Make sure all pavers and paver joints are completely dry and it will not rain within 4 hours. To get more information and instruction about brick paver sealers and cleaners, check out Techniseal for information and source near you!
Starting first with the Rolling method of applying brick paver sealant, I find that my time in applying the paver sealant is less. The special foam slitted roller spreads the sealer pretty evenly and efficiently. The rolling method of applying paver sealant will stretch the sealer so you will not have very much waste. The biggest setback that I experience when rolling on brick paver sealant is that the roller will sometimes roll the joint sand over the top of the brick pavers, especially if the joints are wide. Also, I am not satisfied with the amount of sealer that pours into the sand joints. Even though the paver sealant companies push their special rollers, I have yet to find one that satisfies me.
The Spraying method is my preferred method of applying brick paver sealer. When applying sealer for paver patios, walkways, and driveways, this method will apply sealer very generously while allowing sealer to soak into the sand joints as well. As long as you apply the paver sealer on a windless day, the coverage can be generous and effortless. You will use up more sealer with this brick paver applying method. The biggest headache for us brick paver contractors is that there are no real good brick paver sealer sprayers. Even the high dollar commercial sprayers require so much cleaning & maintenance to perform properly, most of us contractors have resolved to the cheap and disposable "pump" garden sprayers. After each brick paver sealing job, I just throw them away. The thermoplastics in the paver sealer harden up & eat up the rubber seals on the sprayers and make them unusable unless you thoroughly clean them out with acetone or thinner. I usually purchase a sealer sprayer under $20 at Lowe's or Home Depot. I feel my time is worth more than the actual cost of the sprayers.No matter what brick paver sealing method you use, make sure you seal patio stones & retaining walls on a dry sunny day. Make sure all pavers and paver joints are completely dry and it will not rain within 4 hours. To get more information and instruction about brick paver sealers and cleaners, check out Techniseal for information and source near you!
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