Yes, you have been ripped off by that salesman, feel free to take any retaliation you feel appropriate. No it is not OK. Get real people, an electrician tells you he will run an open wire through water and you smell a rat a freakin' 'salesperson' tells you something and you buy it. Search the net and send it back.

Does it freeze where you live? If so, you need a base.

My brother installed pavers in his nearly entire back yard. While he tends to "over-engineer" everything he does, he did use four inches of AB road base and then rented a gas-powered tamper to "whack" everything. If you dont get a firm rock base, the pavers will likely move and will allow organic matter to settle between the stones rsulting in an uneven surface with weeds.

I would never use 3/4 minus again. The fines mean:
1) the base doesn't drain as well
2) the fines can wash out
3) fines turn mushy when saturated

For me, its
1) woven geotextile
2) limestone *without* fines
3) woven geotextile
4) oourse sand
5) pavers
6) polymeric sand

This drains far better.

I had to lift and re-lay about 120 bricks bordering my garden. Old-fashioned bricks once used for roadways.

I ran across something new, to me anyway, at Home Depot. "Paver Base". It's described as "Limestone screenings". Supposed to be better than sand which had all washed away after 20 years. It's very fine. Packs really well. Looks almost like concrete in the trench after you pack it in.

Surprised no one has mentioned this. Has anyone had any experience with this product?

Ok, So I live in Florida, My entire Yard is fine sand, mateer of fact I was watering some grass seed last night and the water just rolls off the sand like silicone. Can I just SKIP the whole foundation and put in good edging??? My yard was JUST churned up for a new leachfield and now is the perfect time to lay out some pavers.

Hi, I thought I would pop in and add my 2 cents here. First let me tell you that when I was a kid my dad put in a sunken patio. It was 18" below grade and he put down sand and then layed in brick. We had very heavy clay soil so it was thought that settling wouldn't be much of an issue. After a few years the bricks had settled here and there, with standing water after steady rains pooled in the low spots and took quite a while to drain off resulting in some areas accumulating moss. A little slick to walk on and a bit of a hazard after a long time. The bricks were also no longer tightly layed next to each other either. After less than 10 years he ended up laying a piece of outdoor carpet over the bricks to hide the unsightly moss and reduce the chance of slipping. Even with scrubbing the moss regularly with bleach to remove it he ended up losing the battle.

My husband (a bricklayer by trade) put a new patio in at our home and used a limestone screen base. It has been 2 years and there is no settling at this point. Weeds are at a minimum. Occasionally we will have a few pop up but they have been very easy to pull. We used large irregular sized pieces of sandstone for the patio that were reclaimed old sidewalk squares that we decided to break and make into an asymetrical pattern with a brick spiral in the center. So far so good with the crushed limestone base. Excellent drainage, no standing water even after heavy rains. we did install a french drain below the crushed stone to promote even better drainage as well though.