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Patio Paver Tips
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Sep 4, 2022
http://go.askthebuilder.com/NewsletterSignup founder, Tim Carter describes a precast concrete paver patio system. While the stones at first seem random and individual, Tim shows how they are clever interlocking pieces of colored concrete Discover patio and paver installation tips at askthebuilder http://www.askthebuilder.com/brick-patio-mortar-repair/ http://www.askthebuilder.com/patio-pavers/
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Hi, I'm Tim Carter from AskTheBuilder.com and I want to show you some really neat concrete
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paver patio stones. You're gonna like this, take a look at this. So check out this patio right here
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isn't this awesome? So this is a nice little patio, it's under construction right now
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we're at a job site, so sorry about all the construction material, but it is what it is
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and you can see this really nice patio and it's got some nice earth tones and you would think
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that these are random stones that are put in here you know and of course it goes up here to the front
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door of the house and um but here's what i want to talk about this patio number one these are not
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individual little stones. There are different shapes and different configurations, but here's
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two of them that I've taken out from the pallet. And look at these right here. So this is actually
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right here, that's actually one stone. See that? And of course this has got four like pieces
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and here's one right there that's got three, looks like three separate stones
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but here what it is They all one block The neat thing is right there I don know if you can see this or not how well we gonna try to show it but look at this it actually got a hole in it right there right in the center now
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that hole is really important and I'll tell you why the way this is made this
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particular stone. It's got, you know of course this is concrete, and you can see
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these grooves here, you know, where my finger is. And what that's all about
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that's so that when it's installed you can see the nice little stones that are
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put in between it to give it a nice rustic look. But what's really important
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is that in the wintertime, water that gets through here into these cracks, it's
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got to be able to drain away and get down through the soil. Otherwise, if the
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water built up in here, it could blow these apart over time and cause
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some damage. So, and also, the way these stones are made, look at this. I don't
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know if you can see that. Maybe better that way. All right, so look at the side
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here. See these lugs right here? These are spacing lugs. These allow you to butt
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the stones next to one another tight when you put them in like that so that that groove and that spacing stays consistent One other thing at the edges you notice this black strip that a retention strip
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that's put in so that the stones, you know, won't push sideways through the soil this
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way. And the last thing you need to know is that crushed gravel was put underneath these
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paving stones. It was compacted. For a patio like this, you probably only need to put about four
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inches of gravel down, and it's got to be angular gravel with some sand in it so that the gravel
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locks in tightly, and then on top of that, once it's compacted, you put some medium to coarse sand
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you level that off, and then you go ahead and set these stones in the stand so that it
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It looks like this. And, of course, you run over the stones with a plate compactor, a machine
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to kind of drive the stones down into the sand. So what do you think? Pretty neat, huh
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Well, I thought you'd like that paver patio. It's really a little bit more complex than that, but it's not as hard as you might think
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But just understand one thing about these paving stones. They sometimes look really, really good when they go in
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They're a certain color. but what happens is where they made at the concrete plant and that really all these stones are just concrete they add a pigment to the cement and over time over some period of time like maybe five ten years that colored pigment wears off
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the sand and aggregate that's up at the top that you see, and you know what? In about five or ten
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years, your paver patio is not going to look like the way it was when it was first installed, so
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know that going in, that it's going to dull down, it's going to have a different color and appearance
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But just keep that in mind for when you make your purchasing decision
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It's that simple. I'm Tim Carter for AskTheBuilder.com. I hope you enjoyed that video and found something helpful and useful
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