November 05, 2009

Installing Patio Pavers

Recently, I've been sharing our backyard makeover.  We started by adding a fence and then installing a patio.  The patio was seriously hard work and our diy installation included digging a giant hole, putting down a weed barrier, adding a 5 and a half ton layer of rocks, and about a three tons of sand.  Once all of that was complete, it was finally time to put down the actual patio pavers!

To make installation a bit easier, we decided on larger 16" square patio pavers rather than small cobblestone pavers.  We saved some serious dough by buying the pavers at Home Depot where were able to use a 10% off Home Depot mover's coupon.  We chose these BellaCobble Pavers by Pavestone.  Each 16" paver stone has a quarter circle design, so four pavers together make this circle motif:
pavestone bellacobble patio pavers


We needed to do some more heavy hauling since the pavers were dropped off on our driveway and needed to be brought into the yard via wheelbarrow.  But once all of our groundwork was done, it was fairly simple to put down the patio pavers. The trick was to be patient to ensure the sand layer was level so the patio pavers were put down evenly.  However, to ensure proper drainage away from the house we sloped the patio by a few inches.
how to install stone patio pavers

One by one, we put down each patio paver until we were finally done!

patio paver installation

Once all of the pavers were down, we added more sand on top of the pavers and brushed it into the seams.  We finished up by watering down the entire patio area to solidify the sand and secure all of the pavers in place.
diy patio installation

After a few weekends full of very hard work, we finally had our patio!  Of course, we still weren't done the total backyard renovation!  We still needed to add some furniture, decor, and plants.  Check back to see how we put the finishing touches on our backyard makeover.

This project is featured on Transformation Thursday.

7 comments:

Kasey at Thrifty Little Blog said...

That must have been SUCH hard work! It looks great!!

Claudia said...

The patio looks terrific! I know it must have been tremendously hard work, but it sure paid off!

Tim said...

Do the pavers on the end slide away at all, do you need something to hold them in place?

Jenny @ DIY Newlyweds said...

Tim,

Nope we haven't had any trouble with them sliding. They are pretty heavy and with sand in between each place, they're not going anywhere.

But on the other hand, we installed smaller pavers in our front yard and the bottom row was shifting around a little bit. However we put some new sod around them and not they seem to be staying put. http://www.diynewlyweds.com/2010/10/paver-walkway-day-2.html

elizabeth said...

Oooo, these are the exact pavers I am using for my patio. It's so neat to see them already placed. I definitely am glad I chose these. They are going to look so awesome! Thanks for posting your pics!

busybeeson said...

Okay, so I just finished my patio with the same pavers and man is my back sore. It was only about half the size of yours, but it was a major project. You can check out my result here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/busybeeson/6120274942/

Jenny @ DIY Newlyweds said...

Wow, your patio looks great! You did a fabulous job. Ours has held up for over 2 years now and I still love it. Hope you enjoy yours!