Paver Base – Natural Stone Installation for Walkway and Patio

Installing natural stone pavers in walkways, driveways, and various paths, as well as numerous external application, is a trend in the construction industry. We know the standard stone paver installation process well.

According to it, after leveling and compacting sub-soil at the required depth, we used to pour gravel or similar material to create a paver base.

On the paver base, we lay at least a one-inch thick sand bed before fixing paver stones on it permanently.

What Is Paver Base?

Technically, a paver base is consisting of stone aggregates. We can get cheaper materials with desired properties from two known processes.

Quarry Process (QP)
Recycled Concrete Aggregate (RCA)

For a sand bed, we can use Concrete Sand to provide a setting bed for stone pavers. Let’s know what QP, RCA, and Concrete Sand in detail is.

Quarry Process or QP to Create Paver Base:

Stone quarries compose of any of the following stone types are ideal for carrying the QP to obtain a paver base.

Trap rocks
Granite
Gneiss
Limestone

Usually, granite quarry is providing the best quality of paver base due to the physical strength of granite rocks. However, today, due to a shortage of stone quarries, construction contractors accept stone aggregates from quarries of any stone type.

Quarry Process is known as different names in different regions of the world, such as Dense Grade Aggregate (DGA), Shoulder Stone, Dirty Stone, Crusher Run, and 3/4 Blended Stone.

In QP, stones or rocks are crushing using multiple stone crushers. Screening of crushed rocks takes place to obtain desired sizes, mostly measured in millimeters or MM/mm.

However, QP is a combination of different sizes and stone dust to achieve a high degree of compaction and strength.

Benefits of Quarry Processed Concrete Aggregates in Paver Base Construction

Due to its properties, QP proves a perfect mixture for the creation of a paver base for various applications.
The majority of construction projects demand concrete aggregates to create interior flooring and exterior paving surfaces. Be it concrete slabs, bricks, or natural stone pavers; CA is providing the required strength and fixing base.
Walkways, sideways, driveways, and various paths in patios and gardens are demanding a strong paver base to keep surfaces even and smooth to walk or drive in every season.
Paver base is an ideal material to combat with adversities of weather. Concrete aggregates are percolating layer to allow seepage of water. It also resists extreme heat and cold and remains stable during weather extremity like snowfall or frost in winters. Granite is an ideal rock material for QP to obtain CA.
High traffic and public projects like roads, highways, and public walkways/sideways sometimes use concrete aggregates from QP as a top layer and pour asphalt or construct concrete slabs/lay pavers/stones on it directly.

Recycled Concrete Aggregate or RCA to Create Paver Base

We know aged sidewalks, roads, driveways, and various concrete-based buildings are demoed every year in cities and towns. We know about the acute shortage of new concrete aggregates.

Therefore, the construction industry has adopted some standards for recycling of these demolished scraps to obtain the useful quality of concrete aggregates. These scraps crushed or screened as per needs to prepare the desired quality of recycled material.

Licensed and law-abide RCA providers always follow the procedure and standards in preparation of RCA material. Various metals and other contaminations are existing in the demoed or scraps supply come from different resources.

RCA vendors have to follow appropriate methods to eliminate such hazardous contaminations right before further processing and delivery. Various safety and security concerns need to address along with environmental pollution issues. Therefore, the selection of the right provider is crucial for RCA use.

Benefits of Recycled Concrete Aggregates in Paver Base Construction

The apparent advantages of recycled concrete aggregates are the price, as it is the cheapest alternative to get material.
You can obtain quick and expected the quantity of material in the vicinity of the construction or application sites if any RCA project is running.
RCA helps in the reduction of pollutant material in our surroundings. Therefore, it is an eco-friendly option, and many government aids to support it in various ways.
RCA also helps in the preservation of natural resources from further detritions through mining.
It helps local bodies to cut landfill size and labor to remove scraps from various construction locations for the contractors.
With RCA projects now demolition contractors get a decent return and willingly supply the scraps to the RCA project sites.

Concrete Sand or CS to Create Paver Base:

We have seen that during QP for concrete aggregates, we get concrete dust along with small to larger pieces of rocks. If we washed QP concrete aggregates through a screening process and assured that no larger pieces of rocks left in the outcomes, it will concrete sand.

Concrete dust particles in CS are almost equivalent to sand particles of different sizes. Now, concrete sand is a side product of QP concrete aggregates, so it is far cheaper than sands from its original resources like rivers.

Benefits of Concrete Sand in Paver Base Construction

Concrete sand is known by different names like manufactured sand, pipe sand, and utility sand.

Many construction projects use CS to create a construction base including a foundation base or concrete slab or flooring stone base as an alternative material for natural sands.

It is a key ingredient in many cement aggregate projects.
It also used in hot mix asphalt as asphalt sand and provided a base layer and leveling medium for swimming pools in above-ground designs.
It replaces natural sands in high traffic walkways and driveway construction because natural sands from rivers tend to move upon high pressure and can create a vacuum below the top layer of pavers.
Many concrete and asphalt products use washed concrete sand along with Portland cement and lime.

Benefits of a Paver Base

We already have seen the benefits of paver base material at an individual level. However, for more comprehension, I would like to cite some important benefits of a paver base in a general sense here.

The Role of a Concrete Aggregate Layer is to provide a firm base to bear the load from the top layers of stone pavers. CA contains varying sizes and shapes of stone particles. When compacted CA during the paver base preparation process, the rough edges of the site get locked with stone particles in the CA.

The interlocking also takes place between stone pieces and concrete dust present in the CA to create a firm layer with some load-bearing capacities.

The Role of a C-33 Sand or Concrete Sand Layer is to offer an option to mortar application just beneath the individual bricks or pavers layer at the top. Paver stones or bricks sink into the CS bed due to natural weight and application of light compactor.

It forces sand to go up between the open sides or grouts of the paver. Thus, it helps in locking the pavers in place as well as protect grouts from water damages.

Conclusion:

Do you like to know more about the paver base and its components? Do you in search of the right guidance to lay an appropriate paver base for your next stone paving projects for exterior applications? Are you worried about the right natural stone paving material for your walkways, driveways, and paths in your exterior spaces?

You can find right and satisfactory answers from a leading stone supplier like World of Stones, the USA in your vicinity, or through its online website. You will see a huge inventory of paving stones and other natural stone materials for outdoor applications. The most competitive rates and excellent services, including the delivery of stone products, are some differentiators of World of Stone, Maryland, in the USA.

World of Stones USA team cordially invites you to discuss your concerns regarding your stone paving projects.