No whacker plate

I am putting a few slabs down for a bench/seating area; 2m x 2m..

I have dug the footings and shovelled in a good layer of Mot Type 1. The recent rain appears to have firmed the type 1.

Do I really need to hire a whacker plate (£30), or will stamping on the type 1 be good enough?

Thanks.

I'm not experienced enough to answer the question really, but I have my own patio project which is becoming a bit of a nightmare due to the weather.

I would say for £30 just hire one to be on the safe side. If it starts to sink you might not forgive yourself for the sake of £30.

All I can say is that with my project it would involve an awful lot of stamping, and the wacker plate I used was seriously heavy duty. Sadly it all went a bit pear shaped because of the rain and a surprise plastic bag found buried under the ground, so I have to hire another wacker plate now for another day, so count yourself lucky!

Just hire one, as gaz says its cheaper than having to do it all again.

You can get a hand tamper which is basically a 8 inch square steel plate on the end of a long shaft but its very much second best. I use a 14lb sledge for doing tight corners and areas where the plate doesn't fit but trying to do that over a whole patio would be grim.

If you do decide to do it by hand book a few days off work to recover.