Is a permit required for installing removable pavers on a gravel/dirt base to make a patio area? when i went to DOB to ask about making our driveway, they said if i use gravel or mulch or pavers on sand, there is no permit required. I assumed the same applies for other areas on the property and did not think to find out before doing the patio area........it just occured to me that perhaps it might require a permit....but its the weekend.....does anyone know?

We are having a paver patio installed. It will be a rectangle of 20"x20" pavers with 3" of 5/8" gravel separating them from each other as well as the edging around the perimeter. Pea gravel will cover the ground outside the edging. The contractor removed dirt flat across the entire area and compacted some paver base on top, like a rug that is slightly wider than the paver area. He plans to install the edging on top of the paver base. I asked about the base material spreading from the edges if the edging is installed on top of it but the only answers I got were, "You don't need it", "It doesn't move", "We've been in business a long time", etc. -- nothing to actually explain how the edges of a free-form layer of gravel simply never ever move. Is there any validity to his argument? It seems to defy logic but I would like to get other input just in case. Thanks!

If you view any of the 30+ videos on Youtube for building driveway, paver, and similar-application bases, there is not a single one where they do not care about making the sub-base smooth, flat and level. There is a target grade, and they spend a LOT of time to make sure the sub-base is level to that grade and has an extremely dense and flat (and visually smooth) compaction. The purpose of sand in a paver install is not to level the pavers! The purpose of sand is to fill the gaps between the pavers, on their underside, and thereby lock them into place. Of course, you do approximately level the sand layer, but you don't compact it because you want the sand to slip up between the pavers. The additional layer of polymeric sand applied on top of the pavers does the same thing on the top side. Further proof of that point is that in installations where there is a large space between stepping stones, they typically install the stones directly on the compacted sub-base without sand. They fill the gaps between the stones with mortar, polymeric sand, or dirt (depending on application). In that application, the sand over the base layer would not fill the gaps between the stones, so it is not needed.

Contractor #2 is the only one bidding a permeable paving job, as K&D mentioned. In my experience, a lot of people are interested in permeable paving right up until they see the numbers. Then they're ok with conventional pavers. We usually price for 12" of base; I assume the #2 stone layer is in part because of the clay soil at the base? What was your reason for requesting permeable pavers? Does the proposal include a means of exit for excess water (like the pipe shown in K&D's cross section)? And are you comfortable with the long term maintenance needs of a permeable installation? Over time, dirt and debris and other stuff blows in and settles in the joints, clogging the #8 stone and turning your permeable pavers into impermeable ones. If you're not wedded to permeable, I'd ask contractor #2 to requote it that way. I think you'll see the cost delta shrink way down. Contractor #1 concerns me just in that they either just slapped a permeable paver over a traditional base, or else they ignored the request altogether.