Installation Guide

Five Essential Steps – Concrete Paver Installation
1. Excavate & Compact Base Material
Excavate to the proper design depth (see
typical section below). Remove all surplus
unsuitable sub-base material. Compact the
area that has been cleared, then backfill the
area with a Class II 3/4” minus road base
material. The depth of the base should be
3-4 inches for pedestrian walkways and
patios, 6-8 inches for light vehicular traffic
and 10-12 inches for heavy vehicular traffic
or otherwise as directed by the Site
Engineer, Architect or Landscape Architect.
The road base material should be
compacted to 95% density.
2. Screed Sand Bed
Spread concrete sand evenly over the road
base and screed to a uniform depth of 1 to
1 1/2 inches up to the edge. (Edge restraints
can be of various types, e.g. concrete,
wood, plastic pavement edging, etc.) The
screeded sand should not be disturbed until
the pavers are laid.
3. Install Concrete Pavers
Install the concrete pavers hand tight in the
desired pattern 1/4 to 3/8 inches above
final grade. Care should be taken to select
the desired color distribution, keeping in
mind that even solid colors have some
variation in color and texture. The pavers
are made with integrated ribs to create a
minimum joint spacing necessary for sand
to enter. Use a paver splitter or a diamond
blade masonry saw.
4. Sand the Joints
Once the pavers are installed, sweep a fine
dry sand over the pavers and into the joints.
Vibrate the pavers into the sand bed with
vibratory plate compactor. This piece of
equipment should be capable of 3,000 to
5,000 lbs. centrifugal compaction force and
operate at a frequency of 80 to 90 hertz. To
help prevent the vibratory plate from
scarring the pavers, we recommend using
an impact pad on the vibratory plate
designed for paver installation. You can also
use thin plywood, carpet or cardboard, etc.