One of the most popular varieties of coatings for garden paths is concrete paving slabs. This material has a lot of advantages, but practically no drawbacks. Paving slabs look beautiful, lasts a long time and are inexpensive. Another undoubted advantage is its ease of installation. If you want to make the tracks attractive and convenient for movement with its use, you can do it yourself. The technology of laying paving slabs with their own hands includes several simple steps. About which ones, read below.
Where to begin?
Before proceeding with the arrangement of the tracks, of course, you need to make at least a simple project. To do this, a plot of the plot is drawn on a piece of paper. Further on it, tracks are schematically “laid”. The convenience of their location must be checked on the ground. Having drawn the lines of future paths on the ground, you should walk along them. If no discomfort arises at the same time, then the plan has been drawn up successfully. Otherwise, appropriate changes are made to the project.
How to choose a material
At the next stage, you need to decide on the type of paving slabs themselves. This material can have different colors, texture, texture, dimensions and thickness. In terms of design, the choice depends, of course, primarily on the personal preferences of the owners themselves. The only thing is that the material should ideally fit into the design of the site. It’s good if the color of the tracks matches the color of the porch tiles, house doors, window frames, etc.
The thickness of the paving slabs is selected depending on the degree of load on the future path. Most often, a canvas made of this material is used simply to move people. In this case, a sufficient thickness of the tile will be 40-50 mm. If in the future it is supposed to drive a car along a track, a material with a height of at least 60 mm is chosen.
For arranging tracks with many smooth bends, it is better to choose a small tile. In this way, a large amount of waste can be avoided. For straight tracks, material of absolutely any size is suitable. The technology of laying paving slabs with your own hands in this case is extremely simple, since most likely you will not need to cut concrete decorative elements.
Tile Laying Methods
There are several methods for decorating and strengthening paths with paving tiles:
- on a dry mixture;
- to dropout;
- on crushed stone and sand;
- on a concrete base.
When arranging paths in private suburban areas, all of these methods can be used. The first three are usually used when laying sidewalks intended for the movement of people. A concrete base is used if the tile will be driven by car or it is necessary to equip its parking lot. This is the most reliable technology for laying paving slabs. With your own hands, however, it’s more difficult to make such tracks, and this type of canvas will cost more.
Preparatory work
With any method of laying tiles, the marking of the future track is preliminarily performed. Pegs are driven in along its edges and a cord is pulled. Next, a "trough" is dug under the base and tile. If the load will not be too heavy, it is not necessary to make it deep. On a site with stable soil, 15-25 cm will be enough (10-20 cm on a pillow base and 5 on a tile). If the owners plan to ride on the canvas by car, the “trough” should be deepened by 26-36 cm (20-30 cm on the pillow and 6 cm on the material).
The bottom of the dug pit must have a slope of at least 5 mm per 1 linear meter. In this case, puddles will not form on the track in rainy weather. Of course, the slope must be done in such a way that the water does not flow down to the building or the outbuildings, but to the drainage system or to the lawn. The bottom of the dug hole is carefully tamped and proceed with the arrangement of the selected type of base.
Use of crushed stone and sand
This is the most simple technology for laying paving tiles with your own hands (a photo of such a foundation can be seen below). In this case, the “pillow” is made as follows:
- A layer of crushed stone (about 10-15 cm) is poured onto the leveled bottom of the pit and carefully packed.
- A permeable geotextile is laid on top. Its use avoids mixing materials.
- A layer of sand of 5-10 cm is poured onto the dornite, spilled with water from a hose with a spray nozzle and carefully tamped with special tools.
Next, the curb and tile are laid. In the event that the track is not used too often (for example, leading to the gazebo), gravel can be excluded from the base. At the bottom of the "trough" they simply pour a layer of sand 15 mm thick and carefully tamp it.
Dropout Use
This bulk material is essentially fine natural gravel. It turns out after sand screening at enterprises engaged in the production of building materials. It differs from ordinary gravel in that it consists of fractions of different sizes.
The technology of laying paving slabs on screenings is no different from installing elements on sand. A layer of at least 15 cm is poured at the bottom of the “trough” and tamping is performed. Next, the decorative elements themselves are mounted.
Technology of laying paving slabs on a dry mix
This method is also used when arranging tracks on a suburban area quite often. The base in this case is more reliable than with conventional sand and gravel. Using this technology, for example, you can equip a wide path leading from the gate to the entrance to the house or to the garage.
To fill the base with this method, a dry mixture of sand and cement is used in a ratio of 4 to 1. Previously, river coarse sand is poured onto the bottom of the “trough”. It must be carefully rolled. Then, a metal mesh with a mesh size of 50 x 50 cm is laid over it. Next, the prepared mixture of cement and sand is poured. Tile is laid on it and wakes up with sand, which is then swept away from the surface. At the same time, he remains in the seams. At the next stage, the track is moistened with water from the hose. You can use it for movement only after a couple of weeks. Otherwise, dents may appear on the canvas.
Cement mortar
The technology of laying paving slabs on a concrete base, as already mentioned, differs in some complexity. But at the same time, a similar method is considered the most reliable. This technique is used if the car will subsequently be driven along the canvas. It is suitable for finishing the parking lot.
So, how are paving tiles laid with their own hands on the mortar? This is done as follows:
- Cement mortar for the base is prepared in a ratio of 1: 4 or 1: 3, depending on the stability of the soil.
- At the bottom of the “trough”, gravel about 3 cm thick is preliminarily poured.
- Next, pour the solution. The thickness of the screed should be approximately 5-10 cm.
Laying tiles
After the base is ready, proceed to install the curbs. They are necessary in order to give the track a complete appearance and to avoid slipping of the canvas. At the edges of the “trough” a small concrete stand is poured onto sand or a dry mixture. Then the curbstone itself is laid.
At the next stage, you can proceed with the installation of decorative elements of the canvas. Of course, when carrying out this work, the technology of laying paving slabs must be exactly observed. With your own hands, this procedure is performed using markup. The first row of tiles is laid out along cords stretched along and across the future canvas. Next, the evenness of the installation of elements is checked every three rows. Laying is done “on your own”, so as not to damage the prepared base.
Decorative elements are installed on sand and a dry mixture without fasteners. The technology of laying paving slabs on a concrete base is somewhat different. It is usually glued to the base. A cementing compound is applied to the concrete with a notched trowel. Then, the web element is pressed tightly against the surface. Cutting is made using a grinder. The tile is pre-incised and then cracked. Laying should be done as tightly as possible. In any case, the tile should not wobble at hand.
Most often, when arranging paths in a private house, a diagonal laying method is used. This technology minimizes waste.
How to process seams
Whatever the technology of laying paving slabs (for sand with cement, for mortar or for screening) used for arranging the canvas, at the final stage, they necessarily perform such an operation as sealing joints. Their processing can be done in different ways. Usually, sand or a cement-sand mixture is used for this purpose. The selected material is poured in a small layer on the canvas, and then swept away. When using a cement mixture, cleaning should be done as thoroughly as possible. Otherwise, after the first rain, the resulting thin layer of solution will seize and spoil the appearance of the track. Sand for grouting is best taken white. In this case, the canvas will look spectacular. Sometimes for the treatment of seams, special compositions are used on a glue or cement basis. But they are quite expensive.
Track Care
Tiled cloth, of course, will have to be swept from time to time. Colored tracks are also washed from time to time from a hose. With severe contamination, the canvas is first passed with a brush, wetting it with a solution of detergent. If ice forms on the track in winter, salt cannot be used to remove it. She corrodes concrete just instantly. In the spring, a lot of crevices will appear on the canvas, and subsequently the tile will generally begin to depart in pieces. You can try to carefully remove the ice with a scraper. And it is better to use special compounds for cleaning.
Tiling garden paths is a relatively simple procedure. However, this work must be carried out correctly. If the technology of laying paving slabs under the car or for the movement of people is followed exactly, the track will serve faithfully for many years. Otherwise, after some time, dents will appear on the track, and the decorative elements themselves will begin to crack and shift due to subsidence of the base.