How to lay block paving 

brushrescue1701 thank you :)

Thanks, appreciate comments like this!

ICECREAMK1NG1 thankyou!

Thanks 😃😃

God First thanks 😊

Thankyou! Yes it’s surprising the work involved to get it done properly. It’s why there is so many cowboys doing it as it can look good but all the prep be wrong causing it to sink a few months down the line. Whichever way you go about it I hope you get what you were after at the end of the job :)

Thanks 😄

No worries 😃

Thanks, surprising how many driveway installers don’t do the mitres. Which curves do you mean?

Thanks 😄😄

Krishna Kumar - there’s kiln dried sand brushed in between the blocks and compacted in until it can’t take anymore. This locks it all together and stops the water getting inbetween the blocks. The only mortar used on this job was between the blocks on the steps which was a 4 parts sand 1 part cement mix.

Thanks 😃

Cheers. How you level it in which way? As in set levels?

Thanks 😃😃😃

It’s 5-10mm….it can vary depending on screed bed depth and how well you’ve compacted the screed in the first place There’s a lot of factors in it!

@@SamDaviesBuilder thanks Sam Thanks for the reply Sam I’m soon gonna take up some of my lawn and extend my block paved drive a 2 meters , hence bit worried about getting the final level of the new blocks same level as the existing drive

@@boyasaka it’s very hard when you match into existing, did one not long ago and it’s a job getting the paving height to match. I got there in the end though! Let me know how it goes

psymon25 thankyou :). It’s 6mm stone dust, it holds better if the ground becomes saturated in he future. Also it is hard to come by heavy grit sand round by me

@@SamDaviesBuilder brilliant thanks for taking the time to reply most appreciated.

Thank you! 😄

I'm going to leave a comment thanks for the comment. Minimum slope or ‘fall’ as we like to call it is 1:60. There’s calculators online to work it out where you can put the length of your paving in and it will tell you how much of a slope you will need from one side to the other. Say if you had a 4m long driveway then the slope would be 66mm from one side to the other (minimum). But each situation is different so there’s a lot of thinking when it comes to working out how and where to send the water.

@@SamDaviesBuilder cheers mate

@@SamDaviesBuilder also when you're laying the bricks why is it not necessary to have a 3mm gap? Or is that for if you use paving slabs?

I'm going to leave a comment the block pavers have little lugs on their sides to ensure they leave a little gap between each one. It’s just enough room for the kiln dried sand to go between the pavers

Thanks Ed!

You ideally need to add up all those depths and then find your DPC level on your house. You should be 150mm (no less) away from your DPC level. Hope this helps and please ask any more questions if you need to

@@SamDaviesBuilder sorry but I mean how much height would reduce after all the compact? so I know how deep to dig at beginning

@@dynamn you don’t need to dig deeper for compaction you just need to top up the stone to ensure you have the depths you want. So if you want 140mm of sub base you lay say a 80mm layer first then compact then another 80mm layer and compact then see how much you need to top up to get to 140mm if that makes sense. Of course nothing wrong with digging deeper for more sub base

many thanks@@SamDaviesBuilder

Thanks!

pavingexpert.com will give you the best guides on how to start a 45 degree herringbone pattern

Lucky Frenchies sorry I can’t give you a figure on that. There’s so many factors that can change a price it would be unfair to offer any advice on pricing. Factors can include access, how easy/hard the dig is, cost of blocks (big difference between some blocks) and all the labour.

Thanks :)

Thanks 😃🙏👍

It would be fine I would say as long as you have the right depth of hardcore beneath

Raj it was there before, just the angle I took the picture from was hiding it

Off Ebay second hand, bought it around 10 years ago. They are a great investment!

@@SamDaviesBuilder cool i will start looking for one. diamond blades cost a fortune and dont cut as clean

@@bigcartoonyIIV diamond blades aren't too bad with me....a £10 blade will last a few paving jobs as they are pretty soft. If you look on my channel there is a video called 'how to cut concrete blocks' and it will show you the splitter close up

@@SamDaviesBuilder thanks. I sure will.

dackz if the sand is sharp enough yes - the sand round by me is not sharp enough and I wouldn’t be happy laying on it

Thanks Dan. I don't use a rubber mat on these, I don't find it damages the surface but other whackers may need a rubber mat on them when you do it. I am pretty sure if you had clay pavers you would have to have a rubber mat too!

Ms they are Marshall’s standard concrete block paving. Basically their cheapest block paver, they come in loads of colours so there’s lots of choice. I had a labourer help me on the job, I can’t remember how long it took - each driveway is so different it’s hard to put a timescale on how long per m2 or anything like that.

@@SamDaviesBuilder wrong eatons are cheaper

@@tebmc3466 I’ve not heard of Eatons. Where are they based?

@@SamDaviesBuilder I live in west Midlands mate I'm not sure were there based but it's what our local merchants stock

@@tebmc3466 I’ll have to have a google of them

It’s 6mm stone dust. The sand round here isn’t gritty enough so we have to use the stone.

Thanks. It was roughly £3500 including materials

Great job where r u in uk?

What roughly was the size,was this cost for materials 9nly?

@@SamDaviesBuilder Hi, nice video. A question Plzz. We just moved in a new house. Slabs has installed in the driveway. 30% are wobbly or not inline. What to do? 2x2 feet slabs installed,, numbers 33x17 slabs. It has hardcore underneath. Should I just get it repaired or do the bricks as shown in video. Which option is more suitable and importantly cheaper. Thanks

It’s always cheaper to reuse what you already have. You could try relaying them on sand and cement but I never like the idea of slabs if you are driving over them. With block paving, the paviours are small so they can take a bit of movement which means they can take the forces from car tyres. Obviously the block paving will be the most expensive option but it will be more suitable for cars!

I think it was Brindle

Mr SHAH haven’t got a figure for this one sorry. I’ll do one in the future and break down all the costs! There’s so many variables on a driveway - how much to dig out and where you can dispose of it is a big factor in cost

Sam Davies the labour costs vary so much Iv has anything from £7000 to £13000 for my garden!

@@mrshah8025 Best thing to do is check out the persons work on a previous job if you can and then look at the costs. Thats a big difference in cost!

Are you asking for me to explain to you or are you offering me a lesson?

@SamDaviesBuilder No Sir, I'm learning ppavers. I see that some folks build out, then lay soldier or perimeter while other folks build the soldier or perimeter and fill it in. I'm interested in learning how to run perimeters in yards that's roll a bit as you drive up a long drive way.

Ah I've got you. I lay the soldier first then fill in as it gives you something to run your screed rails off. Just basically make sure you use plenty of string lines as they can't be wrong when you set them up properly. It is difficult to explain but please ask as many questions as you want and I will try to help

Sorry Steve haven’t got a figure. Each one varies so much that each job ends up being an individual price. I have found m2 prices online but they’re only a guide

Hi Helen, thanks. No drainage levels were discussed on this job as we were going from the garage floor height to the road height so our levels were set. There is minimum falls you’ll need to have - I get a lot of information from pavingexpert.com

Around 40mm of 6mm dust. You can also use sharp sand

I have not tried polymeric sand, kiln dried sand has always worked well for me. Have you got experience of using polymeric sand?

Yes we set them out square to the house

@@SamDaviesBuilder Thanks for your fast response. I just screeded it, my house is on an angle, my drive leads on to the pavement which runs away on an angle so nothing is straight. So if I block square to the house then you said that's right so that is what I'll do. I will start from the house which will be a little more difficult as the blocks are on the other end of the drive. Thanks for your help, appreciate it

@@booshallmighty problem is, each job is different so you cant always say what you’ve done on one job is right for another. I’d try to set it out off your longest straight line maybe? If that makes sense. You may have to go off what looks best from the road as that’s the view you’ll see the most. So setting it out from the house may not be the best thing on your job. Another good source for setting out is www.pavingexpert.com Hope this helps!

@@SamDaviesBuilder Helps a little, this is ruining my mind but you are thinking like I'm thinking. If the house is on an angle opposite to the angle of the pavement then followimg either of these is not gona look good from a kerb side view. Not sure what to do but I guess like you said do it what looks good to the eye. Thanks for help. I wish this was your problem to solve 😊

@@booshallmighty another thing to try is have a look at photos of other driveways and you may find one with a similar setup to yours. I’m sure you’ll solve it and it’ll look good!

shawnwhtmr if you could do a tutorial to show me how to get better lines that would be great! I always appreciate learning new methods and picking up tips off more skilled people :)

@samdavis. Where is your video? I suspect the only lines you know about are white lines.

birchy birchy I used 40x40mm steel. Only use tile batten if it’s nice and straight - you may find it springs up so could be a pain

@@SamDaviesBuilder yeh i found it springs i the middle when i was doing patios, screwfix do a 25mm conduit with screw extenstions thats good, good job mate i got a few hundred meters to do starting next weekend

birchy birchy try your local steel suppliers, I bet they’d have some offcuts of stuff for you to have cheap too

@@SamDaviesBuilder yeh i have 12pound a length for solid steel bars, got 3x2 alli box section off them 3 and 2meter length for £60quid as a screeder, ile get the solid steel bars soon as i bent the conduit lol

birchy birchy I need one of those ali screeders! All the best with your job anyway, I hope the weather stays on your side

JB London - there is a seal on the garage door and there was no issue with water before. All the driveway slopes away from the garage. I am aware of the regs regarding drainage. The driveway drains onto a private road with a drain in it. There was a tarmac drive there before draining in the same way. Thank you for your constructive criticism though :)

Sam Davies note how everyone giving criticism probably sit behind a desk all day, brilliant job by the way doesn’t take a genius to see that the drive slopes away from from the garage

Thanks, what would you say is dangerous about the step?

Can’t remember how long exactly but the customer was happy 😃

Eric Blackmore - there was an old tarmac driveway underneath. The original stone base was good so not as much sub base as usual was needed but I wouldn’t say 5 inches is enough in some cases as you say - if you have poor ground then you’d want at least 150mm. Geotextile is not actually needed in every scenario. I’ve never heard of ‘ICP’ certified I’m afraid. Sand would be more likely to hold water than the 6mm grit stone. Sand can become live when it is full of water. If you watch the full video I sweep in the sand and tamp it all with multiple passes in various directions. Everyone has their own way of doing this and this method works for me. Thanks for watching and giving your view :)

Your wrong by the way

Hard core up to 30mm below the bottom of the blocks for the screed then you lay the blocks and you shouldn’t press down on them when laying or the wacker will be uneven

Thanks

What would you do different from start to finish?

End result disagrees with you lad. Great work.

@@AK-us2di thankyou 😃. I’m still waiting for a reply from the bloke above about how he does his driveways 🤣

Badly I bet 😂 Anyway cheers for posting this, given us some food for thought as I’m looking to do my own/garden path and stuff.

@@AK-us2di 🤣🤣. No worries at all and thanks for watching