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How to DIY paving, drainage and edging

Gather your supplies

River or paving sand (enough for a bed 30mm deep); pavers (here, Riverstone 495 x 495 x 40mm); clean sharp sand; grated drain; sand/cement mix; 200 x 50mm H4 treated pine sleepers; paint

Step 1
Level the area to be paved and remove all vegetation. Bring in enough river sand to cover the area to a depth of about 30mm. Use a hired plate compactor to compact the sand so it does not settle after you have paved over the top.

Step 2
Use a screed rail and level to establish a flat and level line along the house (or other starting point). Move the screed back and forth to remove sand as needed, then use the edge of a steel trowel to remove excess sand at the wall. This allows pavers to bed in properly.

Step 3
Establish a second flat patch at the opposite side of the area to be paved to achieve a fall away from the house of 50mm over 5m. Use the 2 flat areas as a guide to level the whole area.

SteP 4
To discourage ants from building nests in the sand under the paving, and leaving craters of sand between the pavers, sprinkle a little ‘ant sand’ over the surface.

Step 5
Lay out the pavers. The ideal place to start is at the front door. This eliminates cuts where they are most in view. Rather than walk on the sand, place a sheet of plywood on the sand to distribute your weight without disturbing the sand. Riverstone pavers have a tiny lip at the base, which helps you achieve the standard 2mm gaps between pavers at the surface. Place them straight down, without sliding into place as they will dig into the sand and you won’t be able to butt them together.

Step 6
To cut pavers, hire a water-lubricated paving saw, which has a diamond blade to making cutting very easy. Mark the cuts in pencil then, without using the water, mark the cut with a light pass of the blade. This helps because, while the water lubricates the blade, it tends to wash off your marks. Turn on the water and cut the pavers in a number of shallow passes.


Drain

Step 7
To intercept rainwater at the bottom of the fall, install a grated surface drain at the edge of the paving. These drains come in 1m lengths and simply clip together. Add an end cap at one end and an outlet cap at the other to attach a pipe so the drain can be fed into the stormwater system. If draining a large area or you are likely to get a lot of silt in the runoff captured by the drain, install a sump or clean-out section between the drain and the stormwater pipe to collect soil and sand. Clean it out periodically.

Step 8
To lay the drain, place down a bed of sand and cement so the drain has a slight fall to the outlet, then bed the drain into the mortar. Check it has the fall using a level.


Edging

Step 9
Paint 200 x 50mm H4 sleepers with exterior acrylic paint prior to setting them in place next to the drains and paving. Where they meet at a corner, use 100mm batten screws to join them. Hold them in place with 500mm-long pegs driven into the ground. The finished edging stands about 70mm above paving level to stop garden soil and mulch from spilling into the drain.