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r/hardscape

▲ 5 r/hardscape

Redo Paver Patio base?

I had Site Prep come out and prepare a base for a paver patio. I’m in OH with heavy clay soil. I assumed they were laying down geotextile fabric before the aggregate based on their website saying they always do that for shed bases (if you’re doing it for a shed why would you not do it for a paver patio?) but besides the point that’s my own fault for not getting it in writing.

They put down between 4-6 inches of aggregate with fines and now I’m having second thoughts if I should rent a skid steer rip it up and go with a 6-8 inch permeable base with geotextile fabric instead of the closed base they put down.

I obviously want it done right and don’t want it to start falling apart 5 years from now. Curious to hear opinions

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u/Outside-Pie-7262 — 7 hours ago
▲ 5 r/hardscape

Paver overlay over existing patio?

I have an approximately 600 sq foot concrete patio that’s in fairly good shape. I want to do a paver overlay. The pavers I like are standard 60mm hexagon (yes lots of cuts) from belgard. My plan is to fix a perimeter 6x9 soldier perimeter using mortar. The field I’m planning to place a non woven geo textile fabric followed by 3/4 in sand bed. I am using mortar on the perimeter so I can adjust for the height difference of 3/4 inch. Would this application work? No freeze thaw SoCal.last photo is AI render

u/BothGoat4122 — 12 hours ago
▲ 4 r/hardscape

Stair suggestions

I installed these stairs today, and immediately do not like the look. I believe it is the 4 inline stones x 2 that I don’t like, but that design is why it is as sturdy as it is (very sturdy/stable).

Any suggestions of what I could add to improve? I’m thinking the side rocks need improving and maybe a big stone at top and bottom.

Attaching full yard pic so that you see what the rest of the hard scape looks like. Thanks guys/gals…

Oh yeah…. It previously had 2 rows of bricks as steps (by previous owner) and it was an awful set of stairs.

u/Outdoorlife74 — 5 days ago
▲ 6 r/hardscape

Question about sitting wall

Homeowner here. About 16 years ago I had this patio installed including two pillars and six sitting walls. About 8 years ago one of the sitting walls toppled over - I assumed some tree roots pushed it up and over so I just paid someone to remove it all together.

Now the wall that sat next to the one that previously fell over has toppled after leaning for a few years (see pictures 1 and 2)- and two of the walls on the other side of the patio have started leaning (see picture 4).

My question is can I take apart the pavers and reassemble the wall? If so can I just chisel them apart? And how should I prepare the base so this doesn’t happen again?

Or am I cooked and I should just resign myself to not having a sitting wall?

u/dgard1 — 8 days ago
▲ 3 r/hardscape

Beige polymeric sand for pavers?

Are my joints too wide for polymeric sand? I was going to get evolution sand from a local hardscape shop.

u/Dumpees — 7 days ago
▲ 2 r/hardscape+1 crossposts

Concrete Front Step Replacement

I’m looking for some guidance before I get too far over my head. I’m building a curved walkway to the front door with pavers (this is no problem). I would like to replace the precast concrete front step that is wobbly and degrading with a larger step made of wall blocks, capping stone border and pavers in the middle.

The current concrete step is supported by two concrete supports that, I assume, is attached to the foundation in some way. The supports are approximately 11” under the door and 42” in length. Am I going to have settling problems if I burry them and build on top? If the supports need to be removed, how do I go about that without messing with the foundation?

u/bigpermm18 — 7 days ago
▲ 22 r/hardscape

Beige polymeric sand update

I did indeed do evolution polymeric sand even with my wide joints. I think it came out pretty good. A couple low spots here and there. 1/4 inch instead of 1/8 inch below paver. Took me 4 bags which is probably a lot. But it looks like the joints are intact and I didn’t get any clumping etc. used a tamper with microfiber towels tied to the tamper to make sure I didn’t break my cheap pavers. We’ll see in 24 hours how it looks

u/Dumpees — 7 days ago
▲ 3 r/hardscape+1 crossposts

Currently have a 12x14 poured concrete patio. I am looking at expending the space and looking for feedback as the new concrete addition will not match the existing. Option 1) add 12x7 section to the existing pad which would give me 12x21 feet of space but would have a noticeable difference between the 2 sections old and new. Option 2) have a 3 foot perimeter poured around the existing slab. This will still not match the color but would look more symmetrical like you are “framing” around the existing. This would give me 15x20 of space.

Any thoughts on this being done? Attached is what the 2nd option would look like.

u/JollyTwo431 — 8 days ago
▲ 4 r/hardscape+1 crossposts

Can anyone recommend a good plate compactor for paving?

So I wanted to rent one but the issue is i have no way to get it to and from my home. i don't own a flatbed or anything and these things are heavy. I thought about buying one that I can just keep. It's not ideal since it won't get used much but I don't have a lot of options.

Home Depot rents for $99/Day but doing this myself will require several days of usage over the different usage cycles and the cost will be more than buying one.

I currently own an electric one that does 1500 lbF but my concern is that won't compact enough. I read that you can use these to compact each inch of bedding and if true that's fine with me I just want to make sure that's correct and enough.

Thanks

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u/KingMidas83 — 13 days ago
▲ 1 r/hardscape

I plan to install a couple of sitting block walls. My pavers will be raised about 9 inches from the surrounding grade in this particular area so the wall will be used for that and I am going to add about 18 inches for the finished sitting bench. So the whole wall height will be about 27-30 inches from the surrounding grade and the sitting bench will be 18 inches high (including cap) from the finished paver height.

What is the bedding for this? My plan is to use 3/4 clean and HPB for the pavers should I use both for the walls as well?

Thanks

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u/KingMidas83 — 10 days ago
▲ 0 r/hardscape

I chose Techo bloc blu 60 slate pavers in Chestnut brown for my new front walkway and stoop project. I know I want to use Villago for the border. I can’t seem to land on a color for the border. I’m going for a natural, traditional look. I don’t like the high contrast black onyx , and the slate feels too cool for my house . I’m considering going with Champlain gray border. would that look good with the chestnut brown blu 60? (Existing walkway shown for reference)

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u/Weird-Combination405 — 9 days ago
▲ 1 r/hardscape

Stipulation: A plate compactor is out of the question. My only ability is to use a hand tamper and other hand tools.

  • I was thinking about doing the Brock Paver Base method because it would reduce the labor required in excavating and in compaction.

  • Then I heard about "Open Graded" base which needs no compaction. You need to excavate more, but reduces compaction labor.

  • Can those 2 ideas be combined? Brock base with open grade?

Added context: My yard, during a severe rain storm, will get some standing water. I currently have some old boards layed out in the yard as my temporary walkway. The water doesn't stand so high that it covers the boards. The yard is flat aside from minor bumps (not walking up or down a hill). There might be some roots I need to cut. It's in central Indiana if that tells you anything about the kind of soil.

I am OK with taking more time. I plan to do a little bit every weekend. My main concern is to have a long lasting product.

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u/Freds_Premium — 14 days ago