Brock Pavers are fantastic. I used nearly 100 of them. They make laying a patio or walkway much e...Brock Pavers are fantastic. I used nearly 100 of them. They make laying a patio or walkway much easier. NOT for driveway use. Here how I use them (hope its helpful)....
Note: The ones sold at other big box home centers may have slightly different L&W dimensions, so check your measurements.
1. Preparing the ground. Dig down or add dirt as needed to a level of about the thickness of your paver plus 1" to 1-1/4" below where you want the top of your pavers and make sure you pound the dirt well with a tamper or compactor. It's OK if it's not perfectly sooth or so long as it is at least level smooth because you are going to put a think layer of sand down next and it will fill in where needed. Use a string and a line level to get it where you want it. For example if your pavers are 2" thick, make the compacted dirt 3"-31/4" inches below where you want the top of the pavers in the end.
Be sure you have some kind of solid blocking or edging all around the outside perimeter of where your pavers will go. This is needed to hold the everything in pace even after the patio/walkway is complete. If you are raising the level above current grade on any side of the patio/walkway, you may want to use retaining wall blocks for this purpose.
2. All purpose sand (don't use play sand): I find damp sand works well if I need to put more than 1/2" down, but have some bone dry sand on hand to use for final leveling and filling in small gaps. Use a 2'+ flat and straight board to get the sand as flat as possible and exactly Paver Thickness plus 3/4" below where you want the top of the pavers to end up.
3. Brock Paverbase. Don't let the Paverbases sit in the hot sun - they will temporarily bend from the heat and make installation a little harder. Carefully lay the foam Brock Paverbase on top of the sand paying attention to how they interlock. Check to make sure the entire surface is flat - no gaps anywhere below the Paverbase - by lightly pressing in the top to see if it goes down. Take it up and add or smooth the sand (adding small amounts of dry sand where and as need) until you have it completely flat and consistent across multiple Paverbases as you go. Sometimes, the final flattening is easiest using the Paverbase edge itself.
Once you put down a Paverbase, don't EVER step any where near the edges. I like to put down long wide boards or pieces of plywood over the Paverbases to walk on until I'm ready to lay the pavers themselves.
4. Laying the Pavers: If you done the above steps well, laying the pavers themselves will go very quickly. If you find a dip anywhere where a paver is lower than its neighbors, you can either take up the Paverbase and fix the sand or you can simply add a bit of dry sand on top of the Paverbase under the paver. Make sure the entire underside of the pavers are well supported -- if the paver wiggles from end to end or side to side it make crack or break in the next step.
Around the edges of your patio or walk you may need to cut pavers to create the edge design you want.
5. Polymeric sand and plate compacting. Do this at a time when it won;t rain for at least 2 or 3 days Buy an appropriate amount of Polymeric Sand (get a bit more than you think you need) and rent a plate compactor from HD. Sweep the polymeric sand into the crack between the pavers. Use the vibrating plate compactor to shake it down. Put more sand down, sweep it in, and vibrate/compact again. Keep repeating until all the cracks between the pavers are filled after compacting.
If any pavers break or crack, you may want to pull them up. This is not easy if you put down lots of polymeric sand. The easiest way I have found is to use a masonry drill bit to cut a hole in the paver then use a screw in the hole to pull it up and replace.
6. Sweep. Sweep up as much excess polymeric sand as you can. don;t just sweep it off the pavers onto the lawn or whereever because it will turn into cement where it pays after step 8.
7. Blow. Using a leaf blower or shopvac in reverse, blow off ALL exces left over sand from the surface of the pavers and in between them to provide a nice look - like what good tile grout job should look like.
8. Follow the instruction on the polymeric sand container to lightly wet down the patio walkway -- not too much and not too little. This is what turn the polymeric sand into cement-like bonded "grout." Wait a day after final wetting before you go to the next step.
9. Furniture, beer, wine, frozen cocktails, picnic tables, grill - you know what to do with all that -- enjoy!!!
by PeterD