The Stihl TS400 14″ Portable Petrol saw is an indispensable tool for the rapid cutting of all block paving gardening or landscaping products, with a cutting wheel diameter of 14″/35cm it will cut through steel, concrete or rock to a maximum cutting depth of 100mm. The Stihl TS400 is compact and lightweight at only 8.9kg making it suitable for all civil engineering, building or road construction and even the emergency rescue services.

Features of The Stihl TS400

2 stroke 64cc engine
Decompression valve for easy starting
built in water dust suppression
Power output 4.4kW
Weight 8.9Kg

Not only will the Stihl TS760 cut block paving it can also be used to cut steel, concrete, asphalt, rock and other materials. It’s filtration system is efficient at ensuring that the engine receives the same fuel to air ratio at all times, even when the filter becomes dirty the Stihl maintains the great performance. The Stihl has all the added features that you would expect from this quality power tool manufacturer and it has an electronic ignition and an anti vibration system. It’s well worth the extra money for the Stihl brand.

The Partner K700 Active III is very durable and reliable and incorporates the Active Air Filtration system which makes it efficient, increasing the filter life up to 5 times. The filtration system also helps it keep going for long periods of time without needing servicing. It’s design has made it a favourite piece of equipment in the trade and for contractors and hire companies alike.

It has a 2 stroke air cooled engine, giving 4.8hp, and it’s fuel tank, which has a fuel indicator will hold up to 0.70 litres. The general weight of the Partner K700 Active III is 9.3kg which is without the fuel or the blade. The blade size is 14� or 350mm and will cut to a depth of 5� or 125mm. We would recommend investing in a diamond edge cutting blade for quality and durability. The blade is all protected with the easily adjustable blade guard. The great part about the Partner K700 is the Easy Start function which makes it a quick task to get this saw going.

The cover is bedded into place using a 3:1 mixture of sand and cement making sure its at the correct height and fall, this can be acheved by using a tight string line from one side of the drive to the other and adjust the height to suite, haunch both the inside and outside of the manhole to hold it in place

The recessed cover showing the main area of the drive now completed

A 3:1 mix of sand and cement to form a bed for the paviors inside the manhole cover

Cover the total area of the manhole cover and lightly compact using a steel trowel

Using a notched piece of wood as a guide screed the total area making sure its perfectly flat

The semi dry cement bed has been screeded to the correct height ready to lay the paviors

Use a straight edge or piece of timber to line up the block with the surrounding laying pattern and start to place the full blocks into position

Mark and cut each of the pieces

The manhole cover with all the cut blocks in place

Brush kiln dried sand over the blocks and tap lightly on the top of the blocks using a block of timber and lump hammer to vibrate the sand into position, the manhole lid was removed from the frame to put the sand in place as extreme care should be taken to avoid any sand getting in between the cover and the frame

The finished manhole cover is now placed in position, once its completed all you see in the 4 corners are the heavy gauge lifting eyes to accept standard profile lifting keys which are used to lift out the cover

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)

Fixing a firm edge restraint
Any area of block paving must be surrounded by a firm edge restraint to prevent the blocks and the sand on which they are laid from creeping, either the house walls, fence base panel or new edgings along any side which require the paving to be held in place.

Using a tight string line to keep the front edge of the edging block in a straight line, the blocks are laid on a semi dry mix of 3 parts sand to 1 part cement and hauched front and back to hold in place

Zone 2 grit sand
Zone 2 grit sand is layed to the entire area approx 30mm higher than the finished height to allow for compaction. Different parts of the country have different grades of sand and as a rule of thumb get the coarse grit sand rather than a fine grain sand

Using a spade level the sand roughly to the correct height

Continue over the toal area untill you have covered all the hardcore

As a rough guide 1 ton of sand will cover approx 10 square metres at 50mm deep

Compact the grit sand
Once you have filled the entire area with sand this needs to be compacted with your vibrating plate, you will see the lines and your footprints going less and less after going over your sand 2 – 3 times. It’s advisable to have your sand harder and higher than to leave any low soft spots

Getting the correct finished height
Using a block as a guide push back and forwards and down into the sand until it is 5mm higher than the finished height to allow for the final compaction

Steel poles for a perfectly flat finish
Use a tight string line as a guide cut a channel in your sand to allow the 18mm steel poles to sit, they can be bedded up or down to the required height. The top of the screeding pole is the underneath face of your block so allow 55mm to the finished height

Using a tight string line to get the pole to the correct finished height prior to screeding, check the poles for being level or falling towards any drains, 1:60 fall is required, that’s 1″ in height to 60″ in length

The string line can be held in place either by using 2 – 3 blocks or alternatively you can use steel road pins

Screeding the sand
Once your steel poles are in place you can begin to screed the sand to the correct height prior to laying your blocks. When finished remove the poles and fill with sand using a steel trowel to give a smooth flat finish

Laying the block paving
The block can be laid either square to the house or on a 45 degree angle. On this drive the full blocks started at the front corner of the house working towards to boundary edge restraint. It was done this way so full blocks showed all round the house and any cuts were only visible at the garden side of the drive

The main area of the blockwork completed showing the border, the next step is the cut blocks

Cut in the edges
When you have completed the laying of your full blocks you need to cut in the edges, this can be completed either using a 2 stroke brick saw or a block splitter. These can be hired from your local hire shop. Using a straight edge or string line mark the width of the border using a block as a guide and mark a line onto the full block

Remove the marked block and place on the block splitter lining up the marks with the blade of the splitter

With a sharp pull down the block splitter will cut the block

Alternatively you can use a 2 stroke brick cutter with a diamond blade, this can be very noisy and dusty so make sure you wear a dust mask and ear protectors

Finishing off
Kiln dried sand is brushed over the entire area making sure all the joints are full to the top.

The vibrating plate is run over the total area 2 to 3 times to ensure the blocks are fully bedded into place

Your new drive or patio is finished and ready for use

Close up detail of the straight border to the edge of the block paving

Curved border with edging detail