DIY: Outdoor Patio

Outdoor patios make the perfect place to gather with friends or eat while you enjoy the scenery. Creating your outdoor patio is not that hard, although it is labor-intensive and will always go smoother and quicker with the help of a friend. Patio pavers make a wonderful outdoor patio are a great material for the do-it-yourselfer to work with. Before you begin, check the weather and wait for a nice, rain-free weekend to complete your project. Does this Spark an idea?

Preparing the Ground

To get professional results for your patio, take your time and do the project correctly. The first part of this is to plan out the area where the patio will be installed. Use wooden stakes and string to get clean, straight lines and if possible measure out the patio so you won't have to cut any pavers. This is hard to do and you will need to rent a brick cutter to do it. The smaller the pavers, the better your chances of not having to cut them.
Decide on edging for your patio. There are many products you can purchase for the edge or you can leave the pavers flush with the ground, if you prefer. If you are going to use a black plastic edging, you will not need to dig out for it. However, if you want to lay brick on its side or use wood, such as railroad ties, you will need to add the width of your edge and go down around 2 inches outside your string line. Some people like to put the edging in when the start and others install it right before the pavers to help keep them in a straight line.
Dig down inside your string lines 6 to 7 inches, depending on the depth of your pavers. Tamp the ground down with a hand tamper to make it firm. Lay landscaping fabric down inside the entire area. This will keep most of the weeds from sprouting up through your patio block. At this point, if you are using the black plastic edging, install it.

Gravel and Sand

Shovel in a 2-inch-deep layer of crushed gravel over the landscape fabric. Use a rake and spread the gravel over the entire area and then tamp it down as you did with the dirt. Add another 2 inches and tamp down again. This will give you a strong base that drains the water well, so you won't have any puddles on your patio when it rains. Check for level using a long, straight 2-by-4-inch board and lay it down on end. Then, put a carpenter's level on the board and check to make sure the substrate is level. Move it around to different areas and add gravel or tamp the gravel down harder to make it level.
Shovel in a 1-inch-deep layer of sand and rake it out to cover the gravel. Use another 2-by-4-inch board to drag across the sand from one side to the other to smooth out the sand. From outside the patio, check for level again. You don't want to walk across the sand or you will leave footprints, or it will not be level. From this point on, work from outside of the border and then onto the pavers after you have laid them.

Laying the Pavers

If one side of the patio is your house, make sure it is straight. If it is not, use a stake and mason line to run a straight line and use this line, not the house, to keep your pavers straight. Lay the first paver in a corner and hit it with a rubber mallet to push it into the sand slightly. Lay the next paver no more than 1/8 inch away and tap it in. Finish the row and start back at the beginning and reach over the first paver. As you work your way in, you can kneel or walk on the pavers, but not the sand. Once you have all of your pavers in place, dump some sand on top of the pavers and push it into the cracks between the pavers with a push broom. Hose the patio down when you have all of the cracks filled and the water will settle the sand. Repeat the sand process again to completely fill the cracks. Take a look at the patio after the first hard rain and see if you may need to add more sand.