been installing since 2000...realized around 2003/4 that every install needed fabric. Especially in the northeast. Thanks for making this channel to instruct those who dont know
Yep always! A even better form of fabric I’ve found is SRW permeable 350. It is permeable with the strength of a woven fabric. It is expensive. However I don’t even look at cost when it comes to fabric. It is a life saver.
When do you put base material directly on the soil and when do you put fabric down first? We are in north FL and have always put fabric down first because of our sandy soil. We compact the excavated area very well, then put nonwoven fabric down, then our base material. Many times we wrap that base material with a top layer of fabric and then a thin bedding/leveling layer on top the fabric prior to pavers or ret wall material going down. We watch a lot of your videos, so wondered what you recommend in super sandy soil.
I always place fabric down first, but most of the time I sprinkle a little Portland cement and 3/4" clear and compact into the subsoil because we work with a lot of clay. If you have really sandy soil especially in FL, you could most likely skip the fabric and just place biaxial geogrid (if that is something you want to add to your base prep) at the bottom of your excavation. That will add stabilization to your base. Though if you subsoil is a sand silt mixture you would likely want to continue with that nonwoven.
You’re videos are so informative. Can you build stone stairs on top of paver base or do they need a deeper foundation with a 3/4 stone and then you just place the paver base around the steps?
What do you do with the edges of the fabric that stick out of the sides? Do you fold them in somehow or just cut the excess? Thanks for all your videos. They've been a great guide for me.
i was interested in prepping the paver base with Brock panels. Seemed like a great idea. i looked at a few paverstone stores and the reviews from customers say that there is a difference of height in these 12 x 12 pavers. i guess i will have to use about sand as my top base?
Yes every manufacturer has a stated tolerance that the pavers could differ. Some are worse than others. We lay on top of the panels and then go through and lift up the pavers and add some concrete sand to help level.
How deep can I make my bedding layer for a driveway on an 11 degree slope? I want to maximize drainage/water detention area by using open grade stone and either permeable pavers or TrueGrid...
When using paver panels, if I run a compactor over the pavers how much height will I lose? I would imagine that the panels are going to sink into the sand just a bit, but how much?
If you are using sand you need to compact the sand first before laying out the panels. That would mean screeding, compacting, and then re-levelling before laying the panels. HPB (1/4" chip) works better because you don't need to compact first. With either of these you will lose basically nothing in height.
@@iamahardscaper My previous question was off a bit, as I'll be using Brock panels and they don't recommend compacting the pavers. Can I just use 1" of the HPB, screeded but not compacted?
@@iamahardscaper Thanks for the info. So the big advantage of the HPB over sand is that you don't need to compact the HPB? Brock recommends 3/4" sand compacted down to 1/2" under their panels.
Yes, 1" HPB not compacted. But you still want to consolidate the jointing compound when you are installing it by compacting the pavers (ideally with a roller compactor)
@@iamahardscaper OK, I looked around for HPB (1/4" clean gravel) and I couldn't find any around here (Albuquerque NM). Looks like I'm going to have to use use sand. The Brock Paver Base guy says to use 3/4" sand compacted down to 1/2" but there isn't anything good to use as screed pipe for that. I could use 1/2" rebar but it has too much flex for me. 3/4" pipe would be my preference (1" OD) and is a lot stiffer but would result in a 1" compacted bed. What do you think?
hmm, how do you deal with the edges of geo textile after placement and base material? looks messy. do you fold over the excess like a burrito or cut fabric to depth?
cut the fabric to the shape and ensure it goes up the sides to contain the base. It is definitely not fun to install the fabric especially when it is windy
@@iamahardscaperthanks for replying and great channel too. No one has 1/4"/HPB in my area (western Washington State). The best I've found is clean 3/8 crushed rock. There's also quarter minus that most recommend but I don't know if that would work ok on top of clean 3/4 crushed rock. (Actually mine is not 3/4, it's 5/8). Thanks
