Tools and materials required to lay block paving
Available from most hire shops
vibrating plate compactor
2 stroke saw with diamond blade
block splitter
steel tramel/screeding rails or timber laths 1″ (4 metre long galvanised steel electrical duct is ideal and is available from most electrical suppliers)
steel float
spade
wheel barrow
Protective clothing
Before using any plant or machinery always read the safty instructions and always wear protective clothing
gloves to protect your hands
dust mask to prevent dust from being inhaled
ear protectors to protect your ears
chalk, felt tip pen or pencil for marking any cuts
tape measure
spirit level
straight edge either aluminim or timber
string line
stiff brush
Skip hire and waste disposal
A 4 cube skip will take approx 4 - 5 ton
A 8 cube skip will take approx 8 - 9 ton
As a guide the average sized drive on a semi detached or detached house is between 35 - 55 square metres so you will need at least 1 large and 1 small skip to remove an existing drive what is 40 square metres. This will also depend how you fill a skip and how tight you manage to place everything, if you have large voids between things it will be filled in no time and you will have to get it replaced with another at a cost of between £125 - £140
Materials
your choice of blocks, choose from a wide variety of colours and styles with blocks manufactured by Marshalls Bradstone and Plaspave all available for delivery from your local builders merchants
Zone 2 grit sand
1 ton will cover approx 10 square metres at 50mm deep
MOT type 1 sub-base stone material
1 ton will cover approx 5 square metres at 100mm deep
jointing sand/kiln dried sand
1 bag will cover approx 10 - 15 square metres
manhole cover (if required)
cement (as required)
November 13th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
Some of these tools seem quite specialised, would the tool hire places do them?
November 14th, 2005 at 10:04 pm
yes tool hire centres will have available for hire vibrating plate compactors, 2 stroke saws and block splitters, they will also have diamond tipped blades where you pay for the amount of the diamond you use what can become quite expensive so it could work out cheaper to purchase your own diamond blade which are available from most builders merchants
January 7th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
block cutter would be less expensive
January 8th, 2006 at 3:50 pm
Yes that true gks but a block splitter can’t do all the cuts you need to complete your block paving especially smaller pieces or down the length of the block without having a pile of hardcore at the side of you just to get the cut you require, using a 2 stroke saw with diamond blade will give you a perfect cut every time
If the area your block paving is square and all you are cutting is full blocks into halves then yes a block splitter is ideal but for cuts on a 45 degree angle you will not get a perfect cut every time, the gap between each block is too wide and you end up with too much kiln dried sand in the joints what will be washed away during heavy rain leaving a wide gap for weeds and moss to get established
Not a very professional finish in my opinion, what might be acceptable on a car park or road does not look good on a private drive, patio or path
May 27th, 2006 at 2:47 pm
thanks for the help, this site is a good source of information, keep up the good work
March 15th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Great website, it was actually quite real helpful.
March 18th, 2007 at 7:53 am
nice site, very informative, well designed, easy to use … what can i say ? i love it…