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As an *amateur* stone mason, I’ve built about a half-dozen masonry patios and walkways in the same number of summers, ranging from brick to granite cobbles to blue-stone to slate. And they have all been in either rich or clay-heavy soil. To avoid frost heaves, I have always done a certain level of excavation, building a substructure of crushed stone, etc… You know the story.
My next project is going to be on Cape Cod, a paver walkway in very sandy soil – this stuff drains like a sieve. I know that it certainly couldn’t hurt to use a bed of, say, 6″ of crushed stone. But would it be overkill? The client (a friend of mine) obviously wants to keep costs down, but I have this nagging, idealistic mindset that makes me want to build stuff for all of eternity. Call me obsessive.
Any thoughts??? Thanks in advance.
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Proper basework is not "overkill". If a load of crusher breaks the budget, the client should wait a year and save up some pennies. Follow your instincts on this one. Bear
*Simple,FWIW, I put down a brick sidewalk in Orleans in about 1968, scraping away the "topsoil" (a few inches) and, maybe, putting down some beach sand as a base.Hasn't had i any repairs since then.
*Bob, while I believe that in the South that might work, things are different in places that get Winter.
*I have very sandy soil here (it's a narrow band along Lake Erie) and put in a brick walkway a few years ago. I used a base of 3 inches of gravel followed by 12 inches of crushed limestone. It seems to have provided a stable base.
*Ed -Did you use a plate compactor on your base ?That is one impressive sounding sub-structure.
*Simpe,From a person who lay's pavers and stone for a living.a] min. 3" of a base we use 610 limestone after a plate tamp is usedb] 1" sand screded then one top you go with pavers have any more ?'s mail me i'll try and answer
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As an *amateur* stone mason, I've built about a half-dozen masonry patios and walkways in the same number of summers, ranging from brick to granite cobbles to blue-stone to slate. And they have all been in either rich or clay-heavy soil. To avoid frost heaves, I have always done a certain level of excavation, building a substructure of crushed stone, etc... You know the story.
My next project is going to be on Cape Cod, a paver walkway in very sandy soil - this stuff drains like a sieve. I know that it certainly couldn't hurt to use a bed of, say, 6" of crushed stone. But would it be overkill? The client (a friend of mine) obviously wants to keep costs down, but I have this nagging, idealistic mindset that makes me want to build stuff for all of eternity. Call me obsessive.
Any thoughts??? Thanks in advance.