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paulz
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# Posted: 26 Jun 2019 21:42
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Anybody experienced with pavers? A local guy retired and gave me all his leftover inventory. Many, many pavers, about 1/3 of which are pictured. So I am going to put them in the parking area at my cabin.
Couple things: I have three different colors and two sizes. The rectangular ones are 1.5 times longer than wide, so two equals the length of three squares ones. Not really sure how many of each I have, seems like plenty. Do I try and make some sort of pattern or just mix it up?
And for the different colors, I could do all one color for 1/3, then switch and switch again. Or I could do stripes? Or again just mix it all up?
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cluttonfred
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# Posted: 27 Jun 2019 02:01
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Here is one pattern that will fit your combination, I am sure that there are more. It's basically two of the larger ones stacked vertically, then two horizontally, then two vertically, and so on. Those "columns" are staggered vertically by one square and the small ones used to fill in the gaps or used three in a row to fill in the edges.
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Brettny
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# Posted: 27 Jun 2019 07:04
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If the ground frezes in your area you need to do alot of prep work before putting them down and still may need adjustments every few years.
If you are in a frost zone i would sell alot of them and buy gravel with the money and do a walkway with the rest.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 27 Jun 2019 08:37
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Thanks guys. No ground freeze and my wife is wheelchair bound so need something solid. And I have these out there already..
I like the pattern pictured but it takes many long pavers for each square one. I need to do a better inventory of what I have. I noticed this one too, which looks like it would be easier to deal with a mismatch of pavers. Doesn't look bad.
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cluttonfred
Member
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# Posted: 27 Jun 2019 11:07
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Yup, that one would certainly work in either a random order or regular repetition. Maybe spell out your initials in Morse code?  You could also use that T-pattern but space the T columns maybe two small pavers apart to use a lot more of the small ones.
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NorthRick
Member
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# Posted: 29 Jun 2019 12:17
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Mixing them up will look the best. Couldn't tell you how best to do that though with what you have.
Like most things, proper prep work is key. When I did similar work, I dug out the excess soil, laid down an inch or two of crushed gravel and then compacted the crap out of it. Then several inches of coarse sand followed by leveling, or contouring it out, and then dropping the pavers in place.
I'm in Alaska and the ground definitely freezes and things are just fine. The pavers just move with the ground.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jul 2019 16:11
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Geez this is a lotta work. Yeah I've just been mixing them up. The sand I got from the the gravel place is fine, I heard coarse was better but that's what the guy said would work. About halfway done. Definitely an armature job but it beats dirt. Taking today off to rest my back and hands. Maybe even tomorrow.
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jul 2019 16:22
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Hey, that looks good, the absolute perfect shtick lacks personality & character. The way your mixing the colours & sizes looks much more old world and tough.
BTW: Like that Morse Code idea... stick a hidden message in there hehehe... could be fun
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 2 Jul 2019 21:13
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Thanks Steve. It is turning out better than I expected..
Working on the Morse Code idea, but what to do for spaces?
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 3 Jul 2019 12:07
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For the spaces, maybe if you have just enough of one "weird" colour that's different from the rest ? Or use a brick if you have any lying around. I dunno if there would be some kind of stain that could be applied, I'm sure there are but for these types of stones, maybe there is.
Take your time and have fun with it... hope it's not too hot in corner... gnarly & humid here, ugh.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jul 2019 11:32
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Never realized how big my parking area was until I crawled over it inch by inch. Almost done, and only 1-2 pallets left, should be just right. Learned a couple things along the way:
1. If someone offers you free pavers, run away. Pour concrete.
2. Like most projects, it's all in the prep. I watched some videos on screeding the sand but I should have done a much better job of it. So I have some high and low spots. The tamper knocks down the high spots pretty well, have to pull pavers and fix the low spots. But I figure a winter of parking my truck there will be more to fix, so going to give it until then.
No hidden message. Good idea but I'm so tired most of the time it's all I can do to plop down the closest paver.
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NorthRick
Member
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# Posted: 15 Jul 2019 17:01
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That looks great!
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:00
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Thanks Rick! I was curious, Google says the average price for pavers, installed, is $20 a sf, so I saved about 10K, not that I would have done that.
On to the next project..
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Aklogcabin
Member
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# Posted: 16 Jul 2019 10:32
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Paulz, I think you’re project looks good. And looked even better after you checked out how much you saved. Good job man !
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Scott G
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jul 2019 17:59
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Man, that looks great. Really nice, and tidy upgrade.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 17 Jul 2019 21:25
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Thanks guys. Now I have to figure out about the edges along the hillside and where it meets my road, both of which have a sawtooth. Don't tell me I have to angle cut pavers! Thinking boards with rock?
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slgerber
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jul 2019 06:36
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I work at a landscaping company and the guys who do jobs like this often mark a flowing curve along the stairstep edge by bending a piece of small diameter PVC pipe and drawing the curving line along that. Then they cut all the pavers in place using a 2-cycle cut-off saw making 2 passes with a diamond blade. The flowing curves always look really slick compared to square edges. Maybe you could borrow or rent one? Last they stake in curving edging to hold the edge pieces in place.
https://m.stihlusa.com/products/cut-off-machines/professional-cut-off-machines/ts420/
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 18 Jul 2019 10:01
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Thanks, I may have a line on a saw, more to follow. Sheesh, never ends..
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2019 17:44
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So I went over to my friend that gave me the pavers yard, remembered seeing this in the weeds. Stihl TS420 concrete saw and what looks like an electric jack hammer. The saw had a broken pull start, then it looks like someone tossed it off a truck, bent handle bar and broken saw arm. I fixed the pull starter, cleaned the plug, fresh gas and boom, purrs like a kitten. Ordered a new arm off Ebay for $50, looks like this is an expensive saw. Got a couple of blades that are probably shot. So it will be a bit before I get to try cutting pavers.
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fiftyfifty
Member
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# Posted: 19 Jul 2019 18:14
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nice score! you are very handy.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2021 13:45
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So I was carrying a hydraulic ram out of the pickup, and as usual not paying attention, and spilled oil on my pavers, in addition to what leaks out of the vehicles. Burning with a propane torch does the best job of cleaning them up, and I know they make sealers, but..
I have a couple gallons of veggie oil, I poured some on a spare paver. Why not do the whole area? Dark, but that's OK.
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 30 Oct 2021 14:18
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I’ve had good luck using brake cleaner. Spray a small area, then blot with a rag before it dries.
It looks awesome, btw.
Tim
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2021 10:40
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Thanks Tim, I'll give it a try. Luckily it wasn't the area at the cabin I spilled on but another parking area.
Looks like I never put up a pic of the finished cabin area. It's made a huge difference keeping mud or dust out of the cabin.
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2021 11:24
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Wow!
That's incredibly nice, especially for what you have in it. I envy you.
Best regards,
Tim, Ohio
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Curly
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2021 22:02
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That's really nice work and a whole lot of pavers! Your knees must be sore after all that work.
I hope the stain in the parking area comes out. If it hasn't come out yet, try engine degreaser - it works for me.
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2021 10:00
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Thanks Curly. Yeah my knees, back, elbows and wrists lol. You really need a helper to feed you the pavers instead of getting up and down every few feet to fetch them. Unfortunately I didn't have one.
I've also done both side yards at my city house (which is where I spilled the oil) plus a couple of shed bases, and I still have a dang ton of pavers!
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