Is it best to lay slabs on sand or cement?

Sand is popular because it holds just as firmly as cement, while still allowing for the easy escape of water through your patio slabs.

stonepaving.co.uk - An introduction on how to lay paving slabs on sand - Bridge Street Stone

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Laying brand new patio slabs can be tricky, especially if it’s not something you’ve got any previous experience doing! It’s really easy to get the laying process wrong, and this can end up costing you a lot of money, effort, and time. Therefore, it’s really important to make sure you’re using the correct tools and materials, so you can achieve the optimum foundation for your paving slabs. Sand and gravel is a fantastic option for this. We highly recommend it as a base for your patio slabs here at Bridge Street Stone, as it’s easier to lay than mortar, and is way more cost effective. So, here’s our quick guide on how to effectively lay your paving slabs on sand.

Why should I lay my patio on sand?

A bed of sand and gravel is a great foundation for you to use for your paving slabs. As we touched on above, it’s far easier to lay than mortar, and provides you with a solid reliable base, that drains well, and doesn’t cost you too much when compared to mortar. We’re not trying to discourage the use of mortar by any means! On the contrary, it’s a popular base option that offers fantastic durability, sand just serves as a slightly more DIY friendly alternative.

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail

When choosing the best area to lay your paving slabs, you’ll want to keep in mind a few things - like how large you want your area to be, and how well will it drain after a heavy downpour. If you get these fundamental parts right, then your patio will stay looking its best for years.

Equipment you’ll need to get started:

Wheelbarrow

Wood framing

Spirit level

Spades

Rake

Screeding bars

Garden roller

Tape measure

String line

As well as the tools you need to hire, you’ll also need ample amounts of material like gravel, sand, and landscaping fabric.

Creating your perimeter

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The trick here is to create a perfectly-measured area of ground to lay your patio on. If you get this right, the whole process moving forward will be much easier. To start with, create a rough perimeter with your string that you can use as a guide for digging. From here, dig out your area, making sure that it’s around 15-18cm in depth. As a side note - make sure when you’re measuring out your perimeter that you take into account the small gap that you need to keep between your paving slabs (about 10-15mm) when you come to lay them. We’ll explain why a bit further down. Once you’ve dug your area, lay down your landscaping fabric - this is to help prevent weeds from growing up through your patio.

Bordering

After you’ve dug out your area and laid your fabric, it’s time to set your timber borders. The wooden frame will keep your patio in place and stop it from moving around. Set out your borders following the perimeter of your area - start with the corners and work your way around the edge from there. This is a key stage - so it’s vital that you check, then double check that you’ve got the measurements of your corners right, before you start laying your border. Next comes the gravel - depth wise, you want to be adding around 100mm gravel all around your area. What’s the gravel for? It basically helps to drain the water through your patio stone. Once it has been laid, you need to use your screeding tool to smooth out the surface before you add the sand. Sand is popular because it holds just as firmly as cement, while still allowing for the easy escape of water through your patio slabs. When spreading your sand, you need to make sure that you are adding enough so that your paving slabs come level with the turf once they’ve been set. For example, if your slabs are 22mm thick, you need to leave a 22mm gap between your layer of sand, and the top of the turf so you have a nice, flush finish. Once your sand is packed down and levelled off, you’re ready to lay your paving slabs.

Laying your slabs

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Finally, we come to the actual laying of the paving slabs. Your paving slabs need to be laid firmly, making sure they’re level with the turf around them, while also maintaining a 10-15mm gap between each slab. From here, fill the gaps between your paving slabs with sand, and use a brush to sweep away any excess. Once you’ve got all your gaps packed and nicely filled with sand, give the whole project a good spray down with water so that the sand can settle in. Once the sand has dried, more gaps will appear so you’ll need to repeat the process of packing in sand and spraying it with water about a week or so after the initial laying. There you have it! That’s pretty much all the basics covered - so if you’re feeling up to the task, give it a go! However, if you’re not quite confident enough in your DIY skills, we’d always advise seeking out a professional to do the job for you. Laying on sand is simple, cost effective, and can be done with any one of our fantastic range of paving slabs, including Indian Sandstone, which comes in a range of fantastic colours like Kota Black, Kandla Grey, and Golden Leaf. To make an order, give us a call today on, and we’ll be more than happy to help!

stonepaving.co.uk - An introduction on how to lay paving slabs on sand - Bridge Street Stone