Crazy Paving Help Please

Sammy_Girl

Hello,

I was hoping someone could help me re crazy paving. We have quite a few paving slabs that we want to use for crazy paving one side of our garden. The side in question is just a load of soil and weeds at the moment. We have just replaced the fence and now want to lay down the crazy paving so that we can put out some nice pots etc.

Now I've had a look online for an idiots guide to crazy paving but can't seem to find one. The guides that I have found don't seem to be in layman terms!

Please can someone help me as we would like to do it ourselves as we can't afford to pay somene to do it.

Many thanks

wallbash

If you only want to put some pots on the paving , should be easy

Kill the weeds, forget being green , go for something nasty!!
Level and compact the ground . Could be as easy as walking with your weight on your heels??

Then decide which way you want the rain to run off .

Get yourself a long ( ish) spirit level , and a straight bit of wood.

Weak mixture of sand /cement ( fairly firm consistency)
Then its just a matter of placing the slabs on the concrete.
Checking the fall with the wood and level.
Leave nearly an inch between paving,

Leave 36 hours and the re point.

This should be good enough for some garden pots.
Before we get other poster's demanding higher standards , OP only wants a few pots in a garden:D

Done to a high standard , which would be good enough to park cars on
would entail much more work on the sub structure. And the cost would soar.

Sammy_Girl

Thank you so much wallbash. I just have a couple of schoolboy questions if I may:

1. Level and compact the ground - now when you say level I take it you mean an even surface. How much does it need to be dug down to be levelled - ie the same depth as the paving slabs - approx 2 inches?

2. Rain run off - presumably away from the house is the best option? Ie down the garden??

3. Weak mixture of sand/cement - can this be bought from usual DIY store? Any specific type of sand or cement I should be looking for? What ratio sand:cement should I be using?

4. Checking the fall - Is this making sure its level and not wonky

5. re point - I don't understand

I'm really sorry - im reading this back and I sound a complete numpty lol. I just want to make sure I fully understand and get it right before I end up paying someone to fix my mistakes lol.

Thank you so much.

Oh, I was also thinking of crazy paving an area by the back gate so I can put my bins on. Presumably the paving will be ok with a couple of wheelie bins and some recycling boxes?

wallbash

1) forget digging you just want a solid level base ,

2) YES must be away from house, saves a lot of problems

3) This depends on the area required, but perhaps you could look at the bag of builders sand, which contains a bag of cement ( inside ) this would give a stronger mix , but might be the way to go.

4)Yes, ( hard to describe ( for me ) )

5) after you have laid the paving on the cement. the paving will 'sit' on top :D
so you will have a channel around each piece. Fill in when the slabs are firm.


quote a complete numpty , you should read my postings , is so much easier to show than type !!!

Sammy_Girl

Thanks again Walbash, you've been very helpful.

RE the rain run off - how do you make sure that the rain will run off in a particular direction? Will it need to be slightly slanted downwards towards the garden?

Also, am I filling in the channels using the same mixture as I used for the base?

Thank you so so much

wallbash

Yes and Yes

But when filling in 'channels; use a MUCH dryer mix.
Otherwise you will mess up the paving. The mix should just about stay together in your hand, without staining your hand! Push in and then smooth with a small pointing trowel,

wallbash

Look at

http://www.pavingexpert.com/crazypav.htm

But remember they are talking about a pro finish...... with prices to match
But a picture is worth a [STRIKE]million of my words[/STRIKE] thousand words

Sammy_Girl

Thank you so much

You have been incredibly helpful. I'm going to start my project this weekend (plus it's Homebase 10% off weekend )