by Paul Garnett

Created on: November 21, 2010

For many of you DIY enthusiasts out there, the improvement of your home is a constant be all and end all. You are always itching to find something to do and ways to improve your home. One such DIY project that will improve your home and give you great pleasure when using is that of building your own patio using concrete pavers.

A new patio will add value to your home as well as giving you the enjoyment of being able to use and appreciate it on those long summer evenings. Building your own patio may seem a little daunting to say the least to many people, but it is actually a task that can be completed very efficiently by many people.

So if you have decided that you would like to build your own patio then there are a couple of decisions that need to be made. The most important decision is that of what you want the patio constructed out of. Concrete pavers are an excellent choice. They are durable, user friendly and very simple to lay. They are more dense and harder than bricks so will out live any brick patio and because of modern day manufacturing techniques they can be coloured, so your choice of concrete pavers is large and dependant upon personal preference.

Upon deciding which pavers you want for the patio, you then need to ascertain the design shape and actual size of patio you want. You can do this with pen and paper or even on the computer these days with specialised computer programmes. The design factors are endless and you can have a lot of fun tapping your imagination in designing something unique. However always do consider the location of your new patio. Site the patio near to a door of your home. Easy access is essential and you don’t really want a great hike to your patio, especially if you are entertaining guests. Protecting the patio from wind is also another consideration to bear in mind. At some time you will be exposed to wind and shielding issues such as bushes or trees play a great part in making the patio more appealing.

To actually build the patio you work off your design and mark out the area required. Remove all grass and dig down the area to form the base of your patio. If you are using 2 inch pavers then the recommended depth to dig down is 10 inches. Fill the base with about 4 inches of gravel and then on top of that put another 4 inches of bedding sand. On top of this the concrete pavers will be laid. Always lay the patio with a slight angle for water drainage. When all the pavers are laid, fill the cracks with sand and then water the patio to wash the sand into the cracks properly.

The tools you will require to do this job are a shovel, framing material, sand, gravel, saw, nails, level, rubber hammer and maybe a petrol disc cutter if you need to cut the concrete pavers.

The petrol disc cutter is an essential tool for building a concrete pavers patio. These machines will cut through the pavers like a knife through butter to give you the correct size of slab you need.

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