How much sand?

[sc419795]

Going to put in a 10'x13' patio made of the 16"x16" paver like pads from the home store (Menards). These paver's are 2" thick. Was planning on digging down 4" of soil from where current grade is. This patio will sit on an inside corder of my house with a 3rd side up against a cement drive way. So I will have 3 sides of this patio with a cement boarder (house is on a slab). I am planning on a 2" sand base which I would compact down - add the 2" pavers and I should be close to grade with the driveway.

Easiest thing for me to haul is the 50 pound bags of sand - what you might use for a sand box. Don't really have access to a pick up and I think the delivery costs will eat me up if I have the sand delivered.

How many bags of the 50# sand will I need for a 2" base? I already know I need 73 of the 16"x16" pavers (plus a few for extras). I already have the weed guard so I am set there.

Thanks guys!

[snowblind]

10x13x 2inches thick comes up to .80 cubic yrds- think it will take about 55(50lb bags) of sand-

[sc419795]

Dang.............that's a lot of sand. May need to rethink this a bit.

[RoadrashPaul]

I don't know how much but it is going to take a lot more than you think. I used to work at a lumber yard that delivered sand by the ton. It was like $30 for a ton load delivered to your house. Might call around and see what you can find.

[Reel Northern Bass]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by RoadrashPaul &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I don't know how much but it is going to take a lot more than you think. I used to work at a lumber yard that delivered sand by the ton. It was like $30 for a ton load delivered to your house. Might call around and see what you can find. </td></tr></table>

I second that. Having just straight sand delivered is cheap. You also may want to look into Stone Dust, as it's very good for using as a base for stone patios. That's the way I built them when I was landscaping in college, all with a stone dust base. Stone Dust will actually pack down and stay packed down, so when the stones are set, they're truly set and won't shift around on you.

[BasserJim]

Your patio will sink if you build it like that. It needs to have 6 inches of crushed gravel base - 2a and one inch of sand over that - ASTM C33 concrete sand.

[jimfc3]

+1 on the sinking but over kill on the 6 inch of base unless you plan on parking a car on it. Use 3 inch of compacted crushed concrete or lime stone(also called paver base) then place 1/2 conduit on the compacted base and screed sand which will give you about 3/4 thick of sand, place pavers on sand and spread paver lock sand over the pavers and compact again to get the locking sand in the joints. Do your self a favor and do a search on the internet for how to install pavers.

[BasserJim]

Minimum is 4" for a pedestrian surface, and that is IF you are in a well drained area and have undisturbed soil.

Just going off of ICPI installation specs

[jimfc3]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by BasserJim &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Minimum is 4" for a pedestrian surface, and that is IF you are in a well drained area and have undisturbed soil.

Just going off of ICPI installation specs</td></tr></table> You are correct it is 4" for foot traffic and 6" for vehicle traffic, it has been awhile since I have done one

[BasserJim]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by jimfc3 &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote"> You are correct it is 4" for foot traffic and 6" for vehicle traffic, it has been awhile since I have done one </td></tr></table>

I know that Unilock recommends 6 and 10 respectively


Almost as important as the base is the sand. PLEASE PLEASE use C33 concrete sand, not mason sand or anything else that is real fine. It is also not recommended to use stone dust.