Pavers: DIY or professional? That is the question...

18 years ago

My husband and I recently bought our first home (YEAH!) and have been gardening the heck out of it. The previous tenant seemed to like the look of dirt dirt and more dirt. When we bought the house the first thing we wanted to do was create an outside area (since there was nothing but dirt). We would love to have pavers... and well, we aren't the handiest of couples yet... so we were wondering... is it worth the extra money to have professionals like Home Depot do it.... or is it something that 2 new homeowners with no experience can handle? :-) THANKS!!!

Featured Answer

karinl

18 years ago

It depends a bit on your situation as well as on you.

If your yard is flat, and you're building a flat patio, and you have easy access via a back alley or side yard, I'd say it's an accessible project.

If you have to grade the area dramatically, or if there are other complicating factors, you might consider having installers in. There are probably lots other than HD who would be happy to have the work.

Consider that you need to:

- haul in (or have delivered) tons of sand (we just did a 10 x 12 patio and used more than 20 bags of sand)

- haul in the pavers (or have delivered)

- rent and haul in (and out) a compacter, which is a large, rude piece of equipment.

- if your patio is to be anything other than square, you may need to cut bricks, so rent a cutter

- spend a little time fussing with the level and flatness of the ground, then the sand, then the patio, which can be tedious. That's if you don't do the crushed stone layer, which we didn't and which is probably not necessary in your zone either.

Here's what I would do if I were you.

1. Do some reading. There are dozens of books that will show you how to do this, in fact the brochures for the paving stone manufacturers have a brief "how to" section.

2. Design your patio. How complicated will it be? Do you have any non-standard features that might reduce the DIY potential or dramatically increase the cost of installers? Investigate the many different types of pavers available - in our area, some of the best ones aren't even available at the box stores!

3. Price your options. A couple of days of your time vs. the price of the installers. Include your time and effort needed to haul in the sand and bricks, as the installers would probably organize delivery or bring them.

4. Know yourself. Do you just want a patio quick and proper, or will you enjoy the patio more if you DIY? How will you feel about imperfections if it is done for you vs. if you DIY?

Cheers!

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Comments (9)

creatrix
18 years ago
Another thing to consider- the size of the patio. Most folks under estimate size. Look at what you plan to do on the patio- dining set, grill, lounge- and how much space those activities require. Measure some dining sets, and allow 2' to get in and out from the table. Consider having the grill some distance from the table, and generally upwind, so the smoke is less of a problem. How many people will you usually entertain on the patio? How many loungers do you want.

As far as DIY vs. installer- how well do you and your spouse get along when doing projects together? I decided on paying for the installing since I suspected such a large, labor intensive project would strain our relationship (it was the front walk and had a circle as well as a small wall and two stairs). He has engineer brain, and I have left-handed redheaded artist brain. Sometimes they don't work well together! I won't hang wallpaper with him either.
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
18 years ago
creatrix - LOL! When I was married and my spouse undertook a "home improvement" project, I made sure I was out of the house - two very opinionated people with differing views on how the project should be accomplished was a recipe for disaster or at the very least, a heated argument. And he was unfortunately not the handiest of handymen. However, the first time I landscaped my front garden, it was a group effort and went remarkably well (with the exception of some uneven use of the post auger for the fence supports - it works best if both parties are about the same size and weight).

Karin makes some good points regarding planning this well out ahead of time and reviewing the degree of difficulty involved. But if you have the time and inclination, there is very little reason this cannot be a successful DIY project. The bulk of my design client base are DIY'ers and they have managed to install a whole array of different paving materials and features, generally with excellent results.

There are all sorts of how-to books and pamphlets out there clearly outlining the steps and processes involved - most anywhere you can access materials will have instructional information as well. It is a very doable project, can be a huge budget savings if you do the labor yourself and will provide an enormous amount of satisfaction once completed.
samuri98
18 years ago
I learned how to do my patio from a free one-hour seminar at Belden Brick and Supply. 616.459.8367
they have them every Saturday, I think. give them a try, because haveing it professionally installed will cost as much or more that the material costs!
lazy_gardens
18 years ago
RONI -
You live in a no-freeze zone. You can just lay the pavers on flat dirt and fill in the cracks with more dirt.

See the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: adobe pavers
violet_sky
18 years ago
Oooh! I'm so excited for you...!

We bought our first house about two years ago [and got married that same year] so we were BROKE. Needless to say the yard needed [and still does] much improvement. The first thing we wanted to do was put in two walkways across a large hell strip in our front. We tossed around the idea of hiring someone to do it for us or try to tackle this job ourselves. Neither one of us had ever laid pavers before so we weren't sure what we were getting ourselves into.

I will say this, while it wasn't too mentally challenging to figure out how to properly lay it down, it was back breaking work. The book "Sunset Landscaping With Stone" was a great resource for the proper technique to put it in [See link below to check it out - it has very good instructions and easy to understand illustrations] So if you're physically fit and have a strong back and good knees go for it!

Ours turned out pretty good for the first stab at it and now we're plotting against the back yard [also all dirt like yours... what are people thinking?] We'd love to put in a patio back there for a table/chairs/BBQ/etc. for summer entertaining. But it'll be more of a challenge as we need to grade the slope for water run off [major concern in the Pacific NW w/ all our rain] and it'll be much larger. It was nice to start w/ this small project to see how we got on. It might be good if you tried laying a small area w/ pavers to see how well you do with the process before you tackle the big job.

Either way good luck and post pictures of your success!

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Here is a link that might be useful: Sunset Landscaping With Stone
spunky_MA_z6
18 years ago
A mason just told us that it's pretty easy to do a small piece such as what is pictured above, but the wider your patio or driveway, the more difficult it is to do a good job. If you don't get it completely flat in all areas, it will look "wavy".
scdavies1
18 years ago
So did you decide whether to DIY or not? I have been trying to figure out if my husband and I should hire a contractor to put in a brick patio or attempt to do it ourselves. Of course, the area I want to put my brick patio in is currently a dirt/gravel patch, so I think we will have the added difficulty of first hauling all of that material out ...

Does anyone know if $15/sq foot is a safe estimate for this kind of work (I'm in the northeast)?
karinl
18 years ago
With a new question, it is best to start a new thread. Then replies can go to your inbox instead of to the Original Poster, who has probably long since moved on to other projects.

Pavers: DIY or professional? That is the question...

karinl

Comments (9)

creatrix

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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

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