On 8/3/2011 6:28 AM, X - Man wrote:
On 8/2/11 10:37 PM, jps wrote:
On Tue, 02 Aug 2011 12:20:09 -0400, wrote:

On Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:32:49 -0400, X -
wrote:


I'm going to put a stone paver patio in under part of the deck at the
rear of the house. About 130 square feet. Going to use J.P. Henry
stone.

The rough part is excavating out about 7" of compacted soil, so I'm
going to contract that out. The rest is a lot of work, but not
back-breaking...layer of geo textile, 4" to 5" of base that I'll
compact
with a rental compactor, then an inch of sand as a screening bed, and
then the pavers. Also have to rent a ditch witch to dig 50' trenches
for
two downspouts and a trench for electrical conduit for wiring to power
up a fountain.

But not until the temps drop.

We have about 2000 square feet of quartzite granite stone in the
screen cage and around the yard. It is over concrete tho. Of you just
set stone in the sand you will be fighting grass forever. I suppose if
you don't mind spraying poison around every few months you can hold it
down

We have been doing this over a period of 20 years, a new patch every
few years so it wasn't horrible to do.

http://gfretwell.com/electrical/addi...0them%20in.jpg

You can put week block under the sand or gravel base to keep plants at
bay. Anything that does grow is easy to pull.


I don't anticipate any serious ongoing maintenance problems after the
pavers are installed. One of my long-time friends who lives in Old Town,
Alexandria, has a house built just after the Civil War that features a
brick patio put in at the same time the house was built. The patio is
brick on sand. It still looks good. Once in a while he gets a little
moss between some of the joints. The moss just adds to the character of
the patio.

Like that little fringe of hair that circles that pumpkin like head of
yours. Adds character indeed.