Perfect Paving - 30/01/2009
Tips and Hints from the Centenary Staff.
I was on the Centenary Facebook and looking through some of the images form our staff members of things they have done around their homes. James McCullough has made a beautiful backyard with Sandstone Pavers so I talked to him about what he's done to get some tips for the rest of us.
Karen: What was the yard like before you started?
James: Just an empty grassed space, it didn't have much character, but certainly had potential.
Karen: You did all this yourself, have you done much paving before?
James: No, I've actually done very little, just a few times.
Karen: Why did you choose Sandstone?
James: It's really personal preference what you choose, I chose the Sandstone for the timeless, natural look it imparts. The warm tones were a great match for the rest of the yard, and being natural stone, it won't wear as much.
Karen: Talk us through the process
James: Firstly I boxed up the area with Pine Edging set to the level I wanted the pavers to be. This gave me a better view of how I was going when laying the pavers down. I used a standard road base and hired a plate compactor to level it out.
Karen: What is using the compactor like?
James: Just like a big lawnmower. After it was level enough for my liking I put the sand on and screed it flat, I was using string lines for guiding me to the correct levels. The sand is what gives the true levels, the base really is there to be a base. The Sandstone was square cut, so I decided to using Tiling Spacers to give me an even gap around each one. I'm really pleased with the overall effect from using these. After I layed the pavers I used Geofix for the gaps, because it hardens like concrete, it will preserve the distances between the stone where as gap sand may have shifted after time.
Thanks for those tips James, for an unusual stone that may not have the edging rounded and not fit together as neatly as some other pavers, he has some great ideas.
The result? See for yourself.
Happy Landscaping!
Karen Francis
Marketing and Design
Centenary Landscaping Supplies
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