Set pavers in concrete or gravel
We’ve gotten so many “professional” opinions that our heads are spinning. We want to redo a driveway with pavers or stone. Should we set them in concrete? Proponents of this method say that it’s more solid and worry-free. We’d prefer to set them in gravel, sand, etc. so that runoff goes into the ground and…
We’ve gotten so many “professional” opinions that our heads are spinning.
We want to redo a driveway with pavers or stone. Should we set them in concrete? Proponents of this method say that it’s more solid and worry-free.
We’d prefer to set them in gravel, sand, etc. so that runoff goes into the ground and not the sewer. Some people say that this method is perfectly acceptable and not much more expensive. Others say that the weight of the car will certainly move the pavers over time.
Care to add to the confusion?
I’m a landscape designer and get asked this question a lot. Yes, concrete would last a long time and work fine. From an environmental perspective, however, setting your pavers on some type of permeable base (like gravel) will allow the rain to enter the ground, feed your plants/street trees, and stay out of our overburdened sewer system (which right now lets raw sewage into the ocean when there is a medium-sized rain storm).
Here’s a picture of another alternative where you could pave two strips for tires and grass or a ground cover in between:
http://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/html/images/photo/2003/feb03/6b.jpg
It may seem like a small act pave a few square hundred square feet of your property, but when you add up all the people who do solid paving (in their back yards and front) it adds up to a real problem.Maybe you could be a green example on your block?
In terms of snow, I tell people to shovel close to the ground and use sand after that. It’s not perfect, but it is way more responsible than using salt and concrete.
There’s a brownstoner reno blog in Greenwood Hts. that dealt with pavers and cement:
http://bstoner.wpengine.com/Greenwood_Heights_Backyard/
I’m loving Turfstone and want to re-do our backyard gravel patio with it. It’s actually used mainly for driveways but I like it for a patio with its modern geographic shapes; we’d put moss or creeping thyme between.
http://www.belgard.biz/shapes-turfstone.htm
We don’t want cement or pavers cemented together because we insist on the rainwater being absorbed into the ground, not pooling up in puddles or around the drain to the drywell. Hello mosquitos and basement flooding. It’s crazy how many solid cement backyards there are in Brooklyn. No wonder mosquitos are so bad here. Mosquitos can breed within 24 hours in as little as a tablespoon of water.
Gravel is fine, done correctly. Dig down at least a foot, put a few layers of compacted gravel, topped by a few layers of compacted stone dust, and set pavers. There are Roman roads and foundations that have survived freeze/thaw cycles more intense that we see here.
Concrete is great until it fails, and water freezes in cracks, and reinforcing bar starts to rust, and it keeps failing. Pavers set in stone dust can’t break apart in the same way, and it’s possible to easily remove and repair sections.
Don’t forget, it snows here in the city, and you should plan to be able to shovel out your driveway when the time comes. If your pavers are large, heavy, and cover everything, you should be alright, but it can be rather painful trying to move snow off of loose gravel.
I’ve been thinking about the same thing. Does anyway know the ballpark price for paving. The area I’m looking to do is 16 * 40′, so 640 sf. The area is sloped, so I’m wondering if I should grade it?
I owned a weekend home in New Jersey and confronted the same issue. Setting pavers in gravel/stone, indeed allows for the pavers to settle and eventually sink somewhat … specially if the foundation for the gravel and pavers isn’t properly prepared. The gravel also allows for weeds to grow.
My driveway was so large that I only did an apron of pavers where the driveway met the road since the cost to pave the entire drive was prohibitive. I had the pavers set in concrete which was a more secure and neater finish.
If you decide to set the pavers in gravel/stone, ask how the contractor will prepare the sub layer. What will he use so the gravel doesn’t sink too much and therefore, the pavers as well.