Paving advice please.

Boooourns

Hello folks, i've just taken up old paving in my garden and i'm looking to put new ones myself. When i took up the previous paving there was just sand underneath (the old paving had gotten really uneven), so i'm just wondering where to go from here, can i level out the sand and then put a mix of sand/concrete over it, level that and the lay my pavers? Or.....
do i need to take up all the sand, lay down gravel and then put my mix of sand/concrete over the gravel?
Taking up the sand would be a bit of a nightmare as there's a lot of it.

Cheers for any advice given.

sponge_bob

hi
it would probably be best to remove the old stuff, just leave a light surface of it there to fill in any uneveness thats in the soil.
if the sand that comes up is nice and clean you might be able to still use it. some people lay the slabs in a dry/semidry sand and cement mix and let the damp from the ground set the cement. i prefer to use a good strong mix 4:1 and mix it to the same consistencey as plaster, you can put this down fairly thick 1"-2". i find it gets a good grip on the flagstones and is easier to "level" the flags with a tap of a lump hammer and a bit of timber for protection, not to hard now mind as they will crack fairly easy. i used this system when i layed about 10sqm of natural flagstones which were all different thicknesses and uneven.
when pointing some people use a very dry sand/cement mix and trowel it in, this is very tedious and it never gets a good grip on the flags and cracks and breaks from in between them. if it is reasonably level then you could mix up a real watery grout with sand and cement 1:1 get a jug or some other easily controllable vessel and simply pour the grout into the joint, fill completely to the top as it will shrink a small bit. a bit of trial and error is need here in order to get the right texture, too much water and once it settles you will only have a pool of water and very little grout in the joint. not enough water and it won't flow/run around the joint for you.

hope this helps
this is the way i done my last paving and it seems to have worked out alot better than my previous paving where the more traditional methods were used.
the secert really is to have good solid ground before you start laying

Boooourns

Great stuff, thanks.

The sand is about 4" thick over a concrete ground so i'll take the sand up. Will i be alright just laying the sand/concrete mix over the ground or will i need a layer of gravel and then the sand/concrete mix on top?

slowburner

Straight onto the concrete is fine, if it is sound.

sponge_bob

slowburner wrote: »

Straight onto the concrete is fine, if it is sound.

yeah if you have concrete underneath you can just lay them on that

Boooourns wrote: »

Great stuff, thanks.

The sand is about 4" thick over a concrete ground so i'll take the sand up. Will i be alright just laying the sand/concrete mix over the ground or will i need a layer of gravel and then the sand/concrete mix on top?

don't use concrete a sand and cement mix is plenty good here.
with the concrete allready under neath use the method i outlined above using a 4:1 mix, use a small bit of plas or water proofer to make it nice and soft/creamy to work with. just make sure that you give the concrete a light sprinkle with the hose/wateringcan to ensure good adhesion.

Boooourns

sponge_bob wrote: »

yeah if you have concrete underneath you can just lay them on that



don't use concrete a sand and cement mix is plenty good here.
with the concrete allready under neath use the method i outlined above using a 4:1 mix, use a small bit of plas or water proofer to make it nice and soft/creamy to work with. just make sure that you give the concrete a light sprinkle with the hose/wateringcan to ensure good adhesion.

Yeah sorry i meant to say a sand/cement mix, confusing myself now.
Thanks for the help.