Patio - How much sand ?

MR DAZ

I'm just about to lay my patio ...and was wondering how much sand "ROUGHLY" would i need?

The patio size is 4.5m x 4.5m ..I was thinking about a ton? Would this be too much or too little?
Cheers
Daz

Breezzzzze

I think compacted sand is about 1700 kg/m3. I don't know what depth of sand you're using, but using this weight, a 50mm sand layer would weigh 0.05m x 4.5m x 4.5m x 1.7T/m3 = c. 1.73 T which is a lot more than you were considering.

I may be wrong - someone please correct me if I am!

coxy123

Hi,

I am actually about to lay a crazy paving patio over the next few weeks. Am planning on putting in a sub-base of possibly screeding and a concrete base also. Approx. size is 12m sq. I still havn't dug out for the base will hopefully do this over the w/e. I am also interested in knowing quantities needed?

charlesanto

Slabbed the same size ...

Used 2 tonnes of stone - compacted that - then a layer of sand (slightly less than a tonne) leveled that - then layed the slabs.

coxy123

What did you use to compact and what depth did you need to dig out...any other tips welcome..tks.

Gyck

What did you use to compact and what depth did you need to dig out

You can hire a compactor, they're pretty cheap. I'd say 4 to 8 inches should do it, though it's been some time since I layed any patios so I could be wrong.

charlesanto

coxy123 wrote:

What did you use to compact

I rented what's known (i think) as a whacker.

coxy123 wrote:

what depth did you need to dig out

Between 2" & 3" - not that i measured it. I just removed the sod really.


Then to level it - i got two 3/4" bars and laid them on the broken stone fill.
Shovelled in the sand - then slid a plank across the bars until the sand was all level.

coxy123

Yeah, think they are called a whacker all-right. Work out at about €35 p.d to hire. I have just ordered 3 T of 804 grading and 1.5 T of sand for job.