Block paving question

[ey143]

I kind of done my own block paved drive way with a labourer using my own electric compactor. The existing ground was dug up and laid with crushed concrete with a man and his mechanical digger with a sub base of approx. 100 to 150mm.

The drive is slight sloping away from the house. If insufficient sharp sand is laid as we get closer to the house (we need to butt against an existing tiled floor), what can happen to the block paving? I think we have laid maybe 30 or 40mm in some areas, but not level all round.

Also is silver sand some special sort of sand that goes hard after it is brushed into the voids of the block paving? Does it also help to stabilise the paving to stop it move around in small amounts?

Thanks.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

When you "wack" down your pavoirs, if the sand is very shallow then some of them may sit higher. I can't say what the minimum thickness should be, though I would have thought 20mm would have been enough.
Silver sand is a fine particle sized sand that gets down the cracks between the blocks which helps to stop dirt getting down the cracks and weeds growing and it stops the blocks moving about. It should be very dry in use else it "sticks" in the cracks rather then fall all the way down and fill the crack right up.
Frank

 

[ey143]

We didn't use the compactor on top of the finally Kate's paving because it was raining. Is that a pad idea? Also we laid the silver sand shortly after. Should the silver sand only be brushed in after the blocks have been compacted in with the wacker plate?

 

[kbdiy]

The principle is to brush the sand over and whack it down so the vibration helps the sand to fall between the blocks. Brushing the sand over a damp or wet surface will result in the sand becoming clogged and not filling the gaps.

 

[r896neo]

by varying the depth of the bedding sand it will settle differently. Too much sand is worse than too little though.

it hopefully won't give you any issues but that is why it should be laid at a constant thickness