How to Install Patio Pavers

Lay out the outline of the patio with batter boards and mason’s line. Check that your layout lines are level using either a water level or a line level and drive the batter boards farther in as needed.

Make sure the corners are square using the 3-4-5 triangle method: Mark a point 3 feet from the corner on one line and another point 4 feet from the corner on the other line. If the distance between the points is 5 feet, the corner is square. If not, make the necessary adjustments. Repeat for each corner.

Measure the diagonals of the patio. If the corners are square, the diagonals will be equal. If not, use a framing square to see which corner is out of square; correct it and repeat this step.

The patio needs to slope away from the house at a rate of 1/8 to ¼-inch per foot to prevent flooding. Check what’s required locally.

To lay out the slope, first drive stakes about 1 foot beyond the corners of the patio. Run level lines between them with the help of either a line level or a water level. Measure down the appropriate amount on the stakes farthest from the house.

Slide the lines down to the marks. Drive stakes every 4 feet approximately 1 foot outside the layout lines.

Tie mason’s line to the stakes to lay out a grid that follows the slope of the lines laid out in step 2.

The highest point of a patio surface can be as much as an inch above grade-enough so that the lowest section is at grade.

Remove the sod. Then remove 4½ inches of soil plus the thickness of the pavers to make room for the 4-inch gravel bed and a 1½-inch sand base, leaving the lowest surface of the pavers 1 inch above grade.

Excavate the rest of the patio, following the slope of the lines.

Measure down from the staked lines to make sure the excavation follows the slop. If the slope is correct, the distance from the line to the bottom of the excavation will be constant. Dig or add soil to correct any problems.

Using an 8-foot straightedge or have a home center cut an 8-foot length of plywood, 3 to 6 inches wide, that you can use as a straightedge. Check the bottom of the excavation wit hit to see whether it’s flat.

Mark high spots with spray paint. Remove them and use the soil to fill in low spots so that the gap between the straightedge and the surface is never more than 3/8 inch. Compact the surface with a power tamper running at full speed.

Landscape fabric keeps gravel from work into the subgrade and weakening the base-woven fabric is best.

Spread the landscape fabric across the excavation and up the sides. If you need more than one length of fabric, overlap the edges by 12 to `8 inches.

Spread and compact the gravel base in layers. If you were to put in all 4 inches of gravel at one time, the power tamper would compact only the top, leaving the rest too loose.

Spread a 2-inch layer of gravel across the excavation and rake it smooth. Compact with power tamper running at full speed.

Spread and compact another 2-inch layer of gravel. Once compacted, the layers won’t be quite 4 inches deep, so add and compact gravel in small amounts until you have 4-inch-thick base.

Test the compaction of the gravel by driving a landscape spike into it with a 3 pound sledgehammer. If the gravel hold firm, the base is compact. If you can use less than a 3-pound sledgehammer to drive in the spike, compact again.

Use a structure as the edge restraint for one side of the patio. Put edging along one of the adjoining sides. (You'll put in the rest of the edging after the paver stones are installed.) Use the layout lines as a guide for both the proper location and slope of the pavers.

Make sure you use an edging designed for pavers rather than garden edging, and follow the manufacturer's directions. In this example the edging is a plastic restraint held in place by landscape spikes driven into the compacted gravel.

Shovel bedding sand on top of the gravel to create a layer about 1 1/2 inches deep.

Rake the bedding sand smooth. 

A screed is a straightedge, usually a piece of wood, that you pull along the sand to smooth it.

Cut a straight piece of 3/4-inch plywood 8 feet long and about 3 inches wide. Reinforce it by screwing a 2x4 to the back.

Drive a nail in each end of the 2x4 so the distance between the nail and an edge of the plywood is the thickness of a paver brick. Remove all the lines perpendicular to the slope except the one at the edge. Remove every second sloped line so there are lines at the edges of the patio and every 8 feet in between.

Slide the sloped lines down the stakes. Move each line an equal distance until it is at the same level as the intended top of the patio.

Work with a helper to smooth the sand by guiding the nails along the top of the mason's lines. Use the lines as a guide only and be careful not to move them by pushing down on them with the screed.

Have a second helper add sand to the low spots and remove sand that builds up behind the screed. Repeat until the surface is smooth.

After you screed the sand, screed it again, starting at the end where you finished and working in the opposite direction across the patio.

Lay a sample row of bricks, stones or pavers on each side of the patio and stretch lines to mark the ends of the rows. Remove the pavers and use the lines as a reference while laying the pavers to make sure you are laying them in straight lines.

This patio, which is a running bond pattern, begins by putting the first paver in a corner of the patio. Exactly where the first paver stone goes depends on the pattern you use.

Cut a paver in half and put it next to the first one. Depending on the pattern, you may be able to cut pavers in place or wait until the end and cut the most of the partial pavers at once.

The running bond pattern requires a half paver cut with a dry saw (also called quicksaw), or paver breaker. Lay the rest of the row, alternation full pavers and half pavers for running bond.

Lay the row according to the pattern you’re using. For running bond, this row and all but the last row are composed of full paver stones.

Lay pavers, checking them against the staked lines as you go. Periodically stretch a line, as shown, to check that the ends of the pavers align. Make corrections as necessary while laying the pavers.

Continue laying pavers as called for by the pattern to the edges of the patio. If a brick is too long, lay it anyway and save your cutting until you've laid the entire patio.

Snap a chalk line where the edge of the patio should be and spray it with a clear lacquer to keep it from rubbing off while you work. Cut along the line with a drysaw and remove the scraps. Compacting the joint sand will rub off the lacquer and the chalk line.

Put edging along the side of the patio you just cut and along the bottom edge of the patio. Drive landscape spikes through the holes to fasten plastic edging. If you use 4x4s, drill holes for the spikes first. if you use 2x4s, put them in place, drive stakes behind them, and nail the stakes to them.

For stability the pavers must be compressed into the bedding sand. Compact the edges first, then the middle. Repeat, compacting in passes perpendicular to the first ones.

Keep an eye out for pavers that crack during compacting. As you work, mark any cracked pavers with a permanent marker to make finding them again easier.

Remove and replace the damaged pieces and run the power tamper over them. Spread mason's sand across the pavers and sweep it into the spaces between them. Mason's sand is fine and works its way easily into the cracks.

Run the power tamper over the patio, first along the edges, then down the middle. Have a helper sweep sand to refill the joints, and compact again.

Keep sweeping and compacting until the joints are full. Shovel soil into the edges of the excavation to cover the edging, and plant the soil with grass or flowers.