The technology of laying paving slabs with your hands on a dry mix, on a concrete foundation, on sand with cement, on mortar, for screening, for a car

One of the most popular varieties of coatings for garden paths is concrete paving slabs. The merits of this material are mass, but there are practically no shortcomings. The paving slab looks beautiful, it serves a long time and is inexpensive. Another of its unconditional advantages is the ease in styling. If you want to make the tracks attractive and convenient for movement with its use, you can do it yourself. The technology of laying paving tiles with their own hands includes several simple steps. About which ones, read below.

Where to begin?

Of course, we need to make at least an unpretentious project before proceeding with the arrangement of the tracks. For this, a plot of the plot is drawn on a piece of paper. Further on it is schematically "paved" the tracks. The convenience of their location must be checked on site. Having drawn along the ground the lines of future tracks, you should walk along them. If any discomfort does not arise, then the plan is drawn up successfully. Otherwise, corresponding changes are made to the project.

How to choose a material

At the next stage you need to decide on the type of the paving slab itself. This material can have different colors, texture, texture, size and thickness. In terms of design, the choice depends, first of all, on the personal preferences of the owners of the house. The only thing - the material should fit perfectly into the design of the site. Not bad, if the color of the tracks will match the color of the porch tile, the doors of the house, the frames of windows, and so on.

The thickness of the paving slab is chosen depending on the degree of load on the future path. Most often, a cloth from this material is used simply to move people. In this case, a sufficient thickness of the tiles will be 40-50 mm. If in the future on the road it is supposed to go by car, choose a material with a height of at least 60 mm.

To arrange tracks with a lot of smooth curves it is better to choose a small tile. This way you can avoid large amounts of waste. For straight paths, material of absolutely any size is suitable. The technology of laying paving slabs with your own hands in this case is extremely simple, as it is most likely that you will not need to cut out the concrete decorative elements.

Ways of laying tiles

There are several methods for finishing and strengthening the tracks with paving slabs :

• On a dry mix;
• For screenings;
• On rubble and sand;
• On a concrete foundation.

When arranging tracks on private country plots, all these methods can be used. The first three are usually used when laying sidewalks intended for the movement of people. Concrete base is used in the event that the tile will be carried by car or it is necessary to equip its parking lot. This is the most reliable technology for laying paving slabs. With their own hands, however, such tracks make it somewhat more difficult, and even this type of cloth will cost more.

Preparatory work

With any method of laying the tile, the marking of the future track is pre-made. At its edges, pegs are driven in and a cord is pulled. Further, the "trough" is being dug out under the base and the tile. If the track will not be given too much load, it is not necessary to do it profoundly. On a site with a stable ground it will be enough to be 15-25 cm (10-20 cm on the base-pillow and 5 - on the tile). If the owners plan to ride on the canvas on the car, the "trough" should be sloughed by 26-36 cm (20-30 cm per pillow and 6 cm - on the material).

The bottom of the excavated pit must necessarily have a slope of at least 5 mm per 1 running meter. In this case, puddles will not form on the path in rainy weather. Of course, the slope should be done in such a way that the water does not drain to the building or farm buildings, but into the drainage system or into the lawn. The bottom of the excavated hole is carefully rammed and proceeds to the arrangement of the chosen type of base.

Using crushed stone and sand

This is the most simple technology of laying paving slabs with your own hands (photo of such a basis can be seen below). The "cushion" in this case is done as follows:

• On the leveled bottom of the pit a layer of crushed stone (about 10-15 cm) is poured and carefully compacted.
• On top of the waterproof geotextile. Its use avoids mixing materials.
• A layer of sand of 5-10 cm is poured onto the dornite, it is spilled by water from a hose with a nozzle-sprayer and carefully compacted with the help of special tools.

Next, the curb and tile are laid. In the event that the track will not be used too often (for example, leading to the gazebo), rubble from the ground can be excluded. At the bottom of the "trough" simply pour a layer of sand 15 mm thick and carefully rammed it.

Use of screening

This bulk material is, in fact, small natural gravel. It turns out after the screening of sand at the enterprises engaged in the production of building materials. From ordinary gravel, it differs in that it consists of fractions of different sizes.

The technology of laying paving slabs for sifting does not differ from the installation of elements on the sand. At the bottom of the "trough" a layer of not less than 15 cm is poured and a ramming is made. The decorative elements themselves are mounted.

Technology of laying paving slabs on a dry mix

This method is also used for arranging tracks on a countryside site quite often. The base in this case is more reliable than when using conventional sand and crushed stone. For this technology, for example, you can equip a wide path leading from the gate to the entrance to the house or to the garage.

To fill the base with this method a dry mixture of sand and cement is used in the proportion of 4 to 1. Preliminary, large river sand is poured onto the bottom of the trough. It must be carefully rolled. Then a metal mesh with a mesh size of 50 x 50 cm is laid over it. Then a prepared mixture of cement and sand is poured. It is laid tiles and wakes up with sand, which is then swept off the surface. In the seams, he remains at the same time. At the next stage, the path is moistened with water from the hose. Use it for movement only in a couple of weeks. Otherwise, dents may appear on the canvas.

Application of cement mortar

The technology of laying paving slabs on a concrete base, as already mentioned, is somewhat complicated. But this method is considered the most reliable. This technique is used in the event that the canvas in the future will be carried out by car. It is also suitable for finishing the parking lot of a car.

So, how is paving the paving slabs on the grout? This is done as follows:

• Cement mortar for the base is prepared in a proportion of 1: 4 or 1: 3, depending on the stability of the soil.
• The bottom of the "trough" is pre-poured gravel with a thickness of about 3 cm.
• Next, fill with solution. The thickness of the screed should be about 5-10 cm.

Laying tiles

After the base is ready, proceed to install the border. They are necessary in order to give the path a complete appearance and avoid sliding the canvas. On the edges of the "trough" on sand or a dry mixture pour a small concrete stand. Then they lay the curb itself .

At the next stage, you can proceed with the installation of decorative elements of the canvas. Of course, in carrying out this work, the technology of laying paving slabs must be strictly observed. With their own hands, this procedure is performed using markup. The first row of tiles laid out on cords stretched along the future cloth and across it. Further, the evenness of the installation of the elements is checked every three rows. Laying is done "from yourself", so as not to damage the prepared base.

On the sand and dry mixture, decorative elements are installed without fastening compounds. The technology of laying paving slabs on a concrete base is somewhat different. To the base it is usually glued. On the concrete, apply the fastener with a notched trowel. Then, the web element is firmly pressed against the surface. Cutting is done using a Bulgarian. The tiles are pre-cut and then split. Laying should be done as tightly as possible. In any case, tile under the hands of tiles should not.

Most often, when arranging paths in a private house, a diagonal method of styling is used. This technology allows to reduce the amount of waste to a minimum.

How to process seams

Whatever the technique of laying paving slabs (on sand with cement, on mortar or on screening), at the final stage, it is necessary to perform such an operation as sealing of seams. Processing them can be done in different ways. Usually, sand or a cement-sand mixture is used for this purpose. The selected material is poured into a small layer on the web, and then swept away. When using a cement mixture, the cleaning should be carried out as carefully as possible. Otherwise, after the first rain, the resulting thin layer of mortar will seize and ruin the appearance of the path. Sand for seaming is best to take white. In this case, the canvas will look spectacular. Sometimes for the treatment of joints special compounds are used on glue or cement basis. But they are quite expensive.

Care of the path

Of course, the trowel will have to be swept up. Color tracks are also washed from time to time from the hose. When heavily soiled, the canvas is first brushed, wetting it with a detergent solution. If ice forms on the track in winter, salt can not be used for its removal. Concrete she eats just instantly. In the spring on the canvas will be a lot of vyscherblin, and in the future, the tile and generally begin to move away pieces. You can try to remove the ice carefully with a scraper. And it is better to use special compounds for cleaning.

Decorating the garden path with a tile is a relatively simple procedure. However, this work must be done correctly. If the technology of laying paving slabs under the car or for the movement of people will be observed exactly, the canvas will serve with faith and truth for many years. Otherwise, after some time, dents will appear on the path, and the decorative elements themselves will begin to split and shift due to the subsidence of the base.