Dear Self Builder, I am pleased to offer you this guide to production and installation of interlocking concrete pavers. In compiling it, I drew information from a number of sources including NextHome Bricks+Stone which provided all the pictures used on this thread. As a landscape contractor, I recognize there are a number of ways to install pavers and that many contractors may have developed their own skills and unique techniques. What I have attempted to do with this guide is to give you some of the best proven practices in the production of interlocking concrete pavers. I believe that this guide will help improve your productivity and cost efficiencies while achieving the best quality job possible. This guide is intended to give you practical information, time saving tips and ‘rules of thumb’. Please feel free to ask questions and other valuable information. Wishing you good success on your projects.

ESTIMATING Before you start, you need to know how to properly estimate the quantity of materials needed and properly allocate labor costs to avoid over-budgeting or getting ripped off.

brabus Measuring the Area to be Paved The best practice when planning to install interlocking pavers is to know the exact measurement of the actual area to be paved. If you have a site plan, you can get the total area of the unbuilt space on your land from your architectural drawing or manually demarcate the land and measure the areas where you want the pavers to the installed. Tip: To measure curves, use a garden hose to mark out the area and measure the length.

PLANNING - Avoid downtime! Planning is essential to completing a quality job as quickly as possible. Scheduling delivery of materials to the site and deciding where they should be placed are important to completing the project efficiently and profitably. Don’t leave your paving contractor to do all the planning alone! Ensure you take delivery of all materials needed for the project prior to starting the work, and whenever possible, try to have the materials placed in strategic areas that avoid re-handling or moving them any distance to the work area. Don’t setup place for casting of the pavers far away from where they’ll be laid, it’d cost you more in time and labour to move them during installation. If other trades are involved in the project, be sure to coordinate the schedule of the pavers team with their work.

Pls can you give tips to achieve best finishing and if nylon and sealer are necessary?

A Self Builder’s Guide to Interlock Production

brabus

Lastweek1

Thanks for your question sir. I’d respond to it here

BASE INSTALLATION - Compaction, compaction, and more compaction!

The base installation is critical to a successful interlock/paving stone installation. If the base is not compacted properly, the pavement will settle overtime and deformation may occur. Your paving stones can even chip and crack as a result of improper compaction, so it’s important to do it correctly.

By the way who is responsible for your landscaping? Who did the levelling of the compound? Was it properly compacted?

If another contractor is responsible the sandfilling and levelling of your compound, play it safe by ensuring that the paving stone contractor confirms that their work meets their requirement prior to the beginning the work. It is very important as not to set interlock bricks on a base that is not properly compacted or is not graded to the required slope
specifications. It can be very disastrous.

Lastweek1

brabus I can see you are updating little by little .. kudos

Lastweek1

brabus By the way who is responsible for your landscaping? Who did the levelling of the compound? Was it properly compacted?

He will do all together ..

brabus

Lastweek1

Beside using polythene nylon underneath your paving stones, I always encourage installers to use stone dust as their final base during screeding of area to be paved.

Watch this video in one of our installations https://fb.watch/2ZGJ4JzAhQ/

brabus

Lastweek1

That’s fine as he must take into cognizance how to achieve good level before laying the stones
This is one important area you must pay attention to as most installers chooses to save on cost during this stage by using sand and not stone dust for the final screed.

Watch this video https://fb.watch/2ZGZJ1bzz3/ to see how we compacted the floors immediately after sandfilling of the compound.

brabus

Sand Locking

To prevent weeds from growing, you need to sand lock your pavers after installation. A lot of contractor uses sand but we use stone dust which is swept on the surface of the installed paving stones and allowed to go to the full
depth of the joints.

Please ensure the stonedust that is used to lock the joints are swept into the joints, otherwise it can wash out and leave a sticky mess on the pavement surface that will be difficult to remove on the paving stone.

Filling the Joints: Evenly spread the stonedust over the surface of the paving stone. Use a broom to sweep the mixture into the joints. Continue this procedure until all joints are full and sand can no longer be pushed into them.

https://fb.watch/2ZHaDtxBsX/

brabus

Would installing polyethylene or weed fabric help prevent weeds from growing in the joints?

No, don’t be deceived! The type of weeds commonly found growing in all types of interlocking stones do not really come from the ground. They germinate in joints and cracks from wind-blown seed. They pull out easily after a rain but they can be killed by treating them with a weed-growth inhibitor chemicals or properly sealing the joints with stonedust and cement (if you can afford it) to prevent growth of weeds.

brabus

@Lastweek1 I am still going to attend to your question on how to monitor the quality of the job been done for you

So, if am giving it to the 2300 guy. How do I monitor the quality of the job?
What are the do and don’t ?
And what are the moulding calculations?
Pls kindly give me the break down of the 350sqm area coverage , So I can monitor and instruct him on what I want.
Thank you

brabus

@Lastweek1

Note:

1 sqm = 36pcs of stone
1 bag of cement = 3.6sqm
30 tons of stonedust = 340+ sqm

To monitor the quality of the bricks produced for you, kindly do the following:

find out the number of molds the contractor brought to your site (count it to be sure.)
If he brought 1,000 mould for instance, divide the number by 36pcs (this depends of the type of mould you chose) to get the total sqm he’ll be producing per day. 1000/36 = 27.8sqm
That means he will be using about 8 bags of cement per day.
If he uses less than these number of cement per day, it means he has increased the quantity produced from a bag of cement. This mean the quality has dropped.
If he uses more than 8 bags of cement, it means he is producing less than 36 pcs per sqm or he has more mold to use.

For a 350sqm area of land, you will require:

1 × 30 tons stonedust for casting.
100 - 105 bags of cement
The production will be done within 13 working days (non-stop) if they’re working at full capacity

The information above excludes the materials required for laying the bricks

Lastweek1

brabus thank you for your explanations. He told me he will be doing 20sqm per day. I told him this morning that that is going to be slow job if he is going to be doing 20sqm per day.

brabus

Lastweek1 20sqm means he has only 700+ mould.

If he cant get up to 1000, let him stick with the number.

The most important thing is to have quality stone. With 20sqm, he should be done in 18 days which is not too bad.

He can start laying after the first 10 days of production.

Lastweek1

brabus kudos…

Lastweek1

Lastweek1 one more question.. smooth face or rough face ? Which one is better ?

administrator

Thank You 🙏🏻

DUNKA

Goodmorning all please based on experience what type of mould for the interlocking pavers is the best if one does not have a specific choice? Thanks

brabus

DUNKA “I” and “sugar” mould are more like it these days.

Other designs are equally good but the I mould looks more mature.

DUNKA

Thanks Bosun

brabus