sage Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I have given up trying to do the WIR myself , laying pavers is not my thing at all. I am digging to Australia trying to level off the ground. I have come to the conclusion it's easier to pay for someone to lay them. Then I can put the WIR together get it all wired and put the roof on. Sage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I always thought that would be a really hard job to do yourself . Good decision, I reckon . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cooks Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 laying pavers is hard going, I wouldn't even be able to attempt it, I know I couldn't lift/move them. You are doing the right thing, give out the jobs you find hard or cant do and do the ones you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Yep, it def hard going! I used muscles I forgotten I had! I was so proud of myseld that I took pictures of each hole and slab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScruff Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Yup, I know the feeling. Have only just stopped aching after almost a week. Not only that the paving slabs I used had a lovely little burr on the underside around the edges that you knew would s"Ooops, word censored!"e away at your hand every time you let go..totally shredded my gloves and am lacking any form of fingerprints at the mo!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Yep, it def hard going! I used muscles I forgotten I had! I was so proud of myseld that I took pictures of each hole and slab Show us yer handywork then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaS Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Oh dear. Just got quote for slabbing for our WIR (arriving tomorrow) - £550 - which is a bit more than I thought it would be (er, by a factor of about 2) - so looks like hubby and I will just have to figure out how to do this ourselves. So - is there anyone out there who has laid paving and thinks it a doddle and that anyone can do it then? Or at least any encouraging remarks at all perhaps???? Optimistically yours, Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 If it is just to go under the WIR then your handiwork doesn't need to be as professional as if you were laying a path for people to walk on, because it won't be taking traffic. I just dug out the earth, levelled it, and spread builders' sand on - used a piece of wood and a spirit level to get it as flat as I could, and then put the slabs on top. As long as it makes a level surface so there are no gaps under the edge of the WIR it should be fine. It was hard work though, I had to call in help in the end - luckily I have a friend who is a gravedigger! I was just slabbing around the edges of the run though - if you're doing a larger area it may be harder to keep it all level. And if it's meant to be walked on, that probably means you need to do a proper job with hardcore - sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 - luckily I have a friend who is a gravedigger! Not many instances when you'd think it handy to have one of those as a friend . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Yep, it def hard going! I used muscles I forgotten I had! I was so proud of myseld that I took pictures of each hole and slab Show us yer handywork then Plum - my slabs have been on the forum before (don`t you recognise me!? ) I can`t find ALL the pictures and I am sure "Ooops, word censored!"ody wants to see the 30+ i seem to remember taking but here is one: I am 5ft2 and of petite build and I managed to lay the slabs myself (OH observed from the patio doors and supplied tea). I did have to dig a fair bit of earth out! As stated before if they are to go under the run I wouldn`t consider neatness essential. I slabbed the edge where the WIR frame stood first so I could get the run up and then slabbed as I went inside ASTW has slabs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaS Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi Falkor (oh God of very many posts ) I just read your other post - and now found this - and am much reassured! You are same height of me - so if you can do it, so can I!! I think that I'll be like you though - doing the hard work while OH supplies tea! So - we think - sand base only - slabs (size?) - and backache. Sound about right? OK - MUST go to work now! Cheers. D (with lots of wood in the garden and lots of work to do this weekend!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaS Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 (edited) Olly - also reassured by your post - though I don't have gravedigger friend on hand to help! Can you also perhaps give guidance on depth to dig out and size of slabs to lay please, pretty please? I promise photos! Cheers. D Edited March 5, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falkor Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi Falkor (oh God of very many posts ) I just read your other post - and now found this - and am much reassured! You are same height of me - so if you can do it, so can I!! I think that I'll be like you though - doing the hard work while OH supplies tea! So - we think - sand base only - slabs (size?) - and backache. Sound about right? OK - MUST go to work now! Cheers. D (with lots of wood in the garden and lots of work to do this weekend!) Re Slab size I have a mish mash of freecycled ones but the ones in the pictures are 400x600 and super heavy.....SO glad I didn`t have too many of those Most of my other slabs are 400x400 and on the thinner size I used sand only base.....not saying that it is the right way but it worked for me and a year on (oooh it is my 1st WIRday next Sunday) all still standing and solid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ISCA Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 I am getting someone in to lay my slabs as I know it would be a complete and utter disaster if I tried myself and I can do without the stressand back pain But it is not cheap at all and the quoted price has seriously stretched the budget. But I think it will be worth it when it comes to cleaning the run and deterring digging vermin. DonnaS, can I ask what surface area of slabbing that quote was for? I have been quoted £670 for an area 15x9 foot. This includes all labour and materials, including a weed proof membrane, cement and sand and terracotta slabs. Is this reasonable? These are gonna be real expensive eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrScruff Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi DonnaS Totally understand your slab laying predicament. It is really hard work to do and can understand why the quotes come in high. When I did mine, I kept looking at this bare patch of mud thinking…I am never gonna get this done!! Anyway, I found the best thing was to roughly level the area, digging soil and placing it around the area. Then I would section off the area you want to slab with 1 inch by 4inch (or wider)planks of treated wood. This will edge the area and keep things in place-also a great levelling tool. Bury these around the border so you can see the 1inch side of the wood as your edge. Level each of these roughly against each other (sink them by placing a shovel in the ground, wiggling forward and back to leave a space and then another spade width-slide the wood in the gap and bash down top middle and bottom till level (place a bit of wood on top and bash this though, not the wood directly). You can keep this in place with wooden stakes around the outside edge. The next step was invaluable and we did it right at the end of the day before I laid the slabs the next day. Get a long piece of wood, preferably the length of the run to overhang the sunken wooden planks. Takes two of you to do this. Drag the wood across the area, skimming the soil. Remove any extra soil and use to fill any gaps or remove completely. Do this across the length and breadth. Do again from corner to corner, but this time get one person to hold one end still whilst the other one does the dragging. Drag back and forth keeping pressure on the plank. Seriously after doing this we were so happy as the ground looked perfectly level. On the sand front, you need very little-couple of bags of sharp sand for a 3metrex3metre area. Tip a few bags out and spread around-you can place a membrane down before the sand, but is up to you. This time I had a section of wood (was a 1inchx4inch X 3ft fence panel that I used to spread the sand around and after 5mins it looks pretty flat (think of icing a cake and you only need a thin covering as a level). Don’t walk on this now, but if you have to then lay down a plank and walk on this. I started laying from the front to the back (away from me)and then placed planks on the ones I had laid. If I thought the slabs were loose at the end I wedged them in with some wooden stakes. Anyway hope this helps-sorry if it’s a bit garbled and apologies for typos but am on an early lunch and trying to send before I have to go back to work. Good luck with the build!! Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 Hi Donna What size area do you want paving? £500 is alot. I'm having 10feet * 7feet done for £200. Sage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaS Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Ian - thank you SO much (and during your lunch break) - really helpful instructions and quite clear. What I guess you were describing was 'creating a screed bed' (or something like that - from pavingexpert.com) - ie how to level. Perfect instructions. Notes on amount of sand needed was also helpful. I'll have to source some short planks - but sounds useful to have that sunken wooden border (measured carefully I guess to prevent too many gaps at the edg!). I've spent lots of time deliberating - and have now read half of "we're all planning part 1" - so think I'll now definitely go for simple slabs (per your description) and just hope it will not be too backbreaking. I'll use smaller sized slabs so that they can be lifted - and may buy one bag of cement to mix in with sand because I think I'd prefer something semi-permanent that won't shift (or be burrowed into). Can't wait to get out tomorrow and start (have to build veg beds first so that I can take soil from chicken run bed and put in veg beds). ISCA - that sounds pretty expensive to me - though your spec is a bit higher. My £550 was for area 6.6m x 2.4m (21'7" x 9') - mainly because I wanted the base to extend to include my cube on the outside. Sage - just spotted your response too - mine is twice as long and a bit wider than yours for £200 - so sounds about right. But we're going to do it ourselves anyway I think! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 don`t you recognise me!? When did that happen Well yes guess you are creating Fantasia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 don`t you recognise me!? When did that happen Well yes guess you are creating Fantasia Knew it would confuse people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 Gosh, some great advice above there, about how to lay them! Just to add - I bought mine from Focus DIY, the cheapest ones - think they were about £1.80 each but I can't remember, I had to buy them 8 at a time because that was as many as I could bear to lift in and out of the car in one session! (Not all 8 at once, I mean one at a time). I dug out about double the depth of the slab, so as to have a neat bed of sand, but I was lining up with an existing concrete path at the front of the run area to make it level. And yes, you'd be surprised how often a grave-digging friend comes in handy in the garden! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcatz Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 I must be wierd as I enjoyed laying mine. I used the instructions on line for making a sand based patio, but without the frame. The hardest bit was digging out the turf and digging down. Then I raked it. I used some thick bags as a membrane... bags that woodchip or compost comes in, then I put builders sand on top, and used a bit of wood from a pallet to level it. This was the best bit as it was a sunny day, the sand was slightly damp and felt lovely. See told you I was wierd. Then I laid the paving, but had to pick up and move them slightly quite a lot to get them lined up and that was hard too. I used gardeners gloves. I built it for the chickens, but it turned out so good I have kept it for myself and will extend it this year. I used 400x400 slabs as I couldn't lift any bigger... plus I had to carry in all the gravel, sand, slabs through the house... I couldn't move afterwards. If you go to your local B&Q and find some slabs with edges broken off you should get them for half price. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2470475&l=cf2f6d1c51&id=559040325 Good luck. You can do it! Think of the achievement and how proud you will be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 At last I have pavers down. I would put a piccy on but don't know how. Sage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 At last I have pavers down. I would put a piccy on but don't know how. Sage Upload it to ImageShack and post the Direct link here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sage Posted March 7, 2010 Author Share Posted March 7, 2010 (edited) Ok here goes Sage Edited March 7, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Bit big but they looks good You need to click the drop down box, Image resize: 320x240 or 640x480 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
