Step-By-Step Guide to Laying Block Paving (part 2)

for our final level when you come to the end of your rail there's a little trick we can use to start out for the levels on the next section all we need to do is make a little groove where the rail is grab our fingers around the end of it and pull it through on to our next level peg now there's two things we can do here by using a float we can very carefully come in and pick that surplus sand up I mentioned and then we need to fill in where the rail was if we don't do that we'll finish up with a fault line so we just carefully remove that bit of sand down there and running what we think we need and then we can take a piece of wood very very gently and just floated across our prepared surface leveling off or removing any surface it's not firming it's just leveling to the existing one [Music] now comes the exciting bit we're almost ready to start laying but there are a couple of golden rules first of all we've gone to all the trouble of preparing our screening sunbed we must keep off that we only do as much as we need for the day and we make sure we keep off while we're actually working around it I say around it because we're starting in a corner here and this is dictated by my plan in an ideal world I'd like to come off the highway laying blocks towards the house that way I can have the block stack behind me if you remember earlier we took the sand onto the prepared area so ideally off the highway in this instance we're going to start in this tiny corner here and we're going to use a particular style of block called the classic oh now we start with a single block this would be the center of our small circle we've actually cut this one into quarters remember we need a quarter circle here to start with I'll show you how to cut safely quickly and efficiently later on but we've already cheated cut that one so we gently place him down like that and then we need two of the small circle stones remember his complete circle to be eight and we start from one side and just place those flat just onto the sand like that and then the next one goes into there like that those just in the right position because if we start off here the right radius when we come to change to the next type of block it'll work a treat and then we're going to start in with the large circle we put two rows of these in I'm just lettin them slide down one another it's important you don't trap any sound we don't put him in as an angle give him the gloves out the way so they don't make a mess and then the second row I'm actually going to start in at that side that's because I'm going to put my cut block in later there I'm slightly different angle it's just a little bit of a gap on these but the base of them I'll show you that in a second something like six or seven mil on this particular row so they're just putting at the top edge there but we've got this gap at the bottom so this is the second row of large circle blocks then there would be a little cut this side so it's one cut there one caught there then I'm going to start on my next row when I one who's one of the large circle then I'm swapping to a square shaped block see that if that goes in alternate we'll just arrange them just right then the large circle again then the square letting them drop down the face of one another as they go keeping the radius looking just right that is so important just to keep the flow of the blocks going in there and then we shall cut one there the next two rows are laid in this fashion and a further two rows are laid using just the square stones now to complete our clásico section we're going to use a classic o in charcoal to put a row of what I call headers around here to differentiate between these stones and our next pattern of blocks so all we do is as we said earlier drop them down just butting up now we want to work so we always a couple of rows back from the edge of the last laid blocks otherwise we might cause them to dig into the sand then we get false levels we get sand trapped between and the blocks wouldn't sit neatly so I'm working just a couple of rows back it's not uncomfortable I'm just letting the blocks drop down to form that radius we're now going to mark out our next area where are we going to lay the intersect autumn mix of colors here we need to put our tape on the Anchor Point and scribe an arc to delineate the area we're going to do this curved radius in a herringbone fashion we need to mark it out so we can lay the blocks at right angles to the radius let me explain we're going to mark out the radius with a curve in the sand and when we've taken this all the way around we then put a straight line across and measure the distance between the house wall and our retaining curve we then have this and take a line from the radius point by the gateposts bringing it across the sand stretching a line out we're then going to mark a right angle out just off the edge of our clásico stones as you can see we're using a set square here what I need to do now he said just that line so I've got a line at right angles to that radius line notice where I'm going to start laying from so that's all set up I want a little good tip I could give you before we start laying in this case the herringbone fashion is to lay a row of what we call stretches that's just a row of blocks from one section to another or around the edge of the curb like that and this would mean that it saves little bits in the case of meeting up with our clásico little cuts that would be lost aesthetically looks better I'm talking of aesthetics I've actually got three packs on the go I've cut the bands and I'm using off the stacks vertically I'm mixing a few from each and each barrel load that way I get a far better mix of colors there's that row just taking him by eyesight as you actually go we slip that one under there because quite important to measure that hopefully just the size of a block there now I couldn't remove my set square nothing start and Sapna blocks in move these out the way I'll show you because this is quite important this first block must go in absolutely at right angles and right under that line there and the next one goes remember how they butt up face wise I'm down that line there and then I'm gonna start and build off that now I can start the pattern going and that's how basically we've restrained the edge we've got a neat cutting area and we can now start and lay quite some speed a nice herringbone style pattern as you can see we've laid quite a lot of blocks it's quite a fast job there are two or three little tricks of the trade I can show you first of all this little trick called single-handed laying where you simply place this row in just as simply as that remembering that they drop down the side of the preceding brick all the way like that what you mustn't do though is get yourself into a little corner there's a little trick some people get wrong they actually try and leave themself a blind end like that and think they can drop a block in what we have fun happens as we've got there little gap opens up it pushes the line of the blocks out we've kept our straight edge here to keep out a line of blocks going so don't ever do that take them out carefully remember it's just long runs but them up and let them slide down so that's single-handed Lane we go all the way along that open face in that direction and then come back using the block the other way to the end here leaving the gap to cut to fit later on this side really ambitious you can use what we call to handy laying and that's just a matter of dropping one block in one hand there that goes down there and another one goes in there step back pick yourself a couple of blocks up and one goes in there like that let him slide down and one goes in there like that so if you want to move rapidly you can do that way but remember that perhaps looks a more awkward pattern to work the starters try the single-handed lane but don't work yourself into that little tiny corner you'll be amazed how many you can lay in just a few minutes [Music] having laid most of the area using the full blocks we always finish up with small areas we've got two infill there was our row that we put in here to differentiate and to give our strength when we cut him we mentioned earlier we've got this small gap there are a couple of rules you must follow we generally don't want a piece that hasn't got three manufactured sides in other words we could cut a piece like that or that angle or whatever we shouldn't put little tiny bits in just on two sides like that if we're in a position where we've got a little tiny bit it's better to take a further block out cut it short I'm put a bigger piece in so we don't any little tiny bits in the filling that's quite important but the secret is to measure each one to fit and you carefully place it where the next block is required and I'm using just a small piece of slate II this works really well and then squint down square over the top of the block make a little mark on that edge look down this side make a mark on that edge just in the right position you can see those two marks now then we can go to our block splitter this is the thing that we under actually hire and we know that that is the piece we're going to save now that this is quite important this must go in on this side we lift the hand off I'm place it so that the top blade marks on exactly the same line as our marks there and we angle it down so it's resting on this sill so I'll show you why in a moment just so bring the handle down in just about the right position if I get just right there we are bring the handle down step back don't be to use the full length of the handle there's no sense impression on there a little bit of weight at this end and it cuts as easy as that leave the handle down so you don't hurt yourself and you'll see now that this is cut but it's slight angle so it will drop in at that angle sand or fill the gap it just gives that room so we'll take that piece let's see if I've measured it just about right there we are just a perfect fit just tie it but it fits in square [Music] because the joints of clásico are large and with conventional blocks we need to fill them with clásico chippings before we do any compaction we're using about 4 kilograms of chippings per square metre we're going to brush them into the joints and we must leave the surface swept clean before we carry out any compaction otherwise it may cause scoring of the actual stones having compacted or vibrated them in one direction we then top up the joints with some more chippings again brushing them in leaving the surface of the stones clean before giving a second compaction preferably in the opposite direction we then see all these joints with an application of a very special moly kiln dried Sun I'll explain more about that in a moment or so but let me move on to the intersect blocks first of all we must sweep it off thoroughly ensuring there's no stones cut blocks or chips around and ideally we should compact the area with lathe during the day but no closer than a meter to any open or working edges then providing the blocks are dry we use the Marley kiln dried sand which is a very sharp angular sand which will lock into the joints and we'd brush this in but somewhere in the region of four and a half to five kilograms to the square metre now the first vibration we gave to the blocks caused vertical interlocking by driving the sand up into the joints this kiln dried sand is now going to be vibrated down to meet to cause a rotational interlocking so the blocks are really locked together we leave a little sand on the surface of the block to aid the passing of the compaction plate vibrate in one direction add a little sand if necessary and then vibrate ideally again in the opposite direction here we're compacting a herringbone pattern and this gives us an extra horizontal lock it's a strong bond and recommended for where vehicles are likely to use the area [Music] well here we are is the completed dry isn't it magnificent you know there's something about the self-satisfaction of having done the job yourself I've thoroughly enjoyed it it's not taking that much hard work just a little bit of common sense a little bit of planning and thought it's like a dream come true the only thing I have to do over the next few weeks is watch the joins you may find that the rains over a period of a few weeks will settle some of that kiln-dried Sun you may need just to keep a bag handy to top those joints off its brush a little sanding if you see what we call hungry joints you know looking at this I'll spend a fortnight doing it I don't supposed to be a gardener there's nothing going to enhance this lovely Drive any more than planting around it I've started to prepare the borders get the soil ready for planting I think it's just the time to pop in these plants some polyamorous and some roses [Music]

Channel: michaeldibb

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Id: 7yg7X2yWjHc

Length: 15min 50sec (950 seconds)

Published: Thu May 07 2020