Paver Patio Part Deux

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 This project is taking almost a month.  I dug out the top layer of dirt, down about 6 inches.  I wanted to dig only 3 inches, but it became obvious while digging I needed to go deeper to get to some solid ground.   Once I had all the dirt out, I figured out I needed about 2.5 (cubic) yards of aggregate to fill back in 3 inches.   I had Chicagoland Materials deliver the aggregate and torpedo sand by dump truck to the alley.  I poured the first layer of aggregate into the patio area and used a Wagner compactor rented from Sunbelt Rentals to firm up the base.   The weekly rental price for the compactor was half the price of what Home Depot wanted.  I used gas pipes to lay down and flatten the 2nd layer of aggregate and the top level of sand above that.   Once the sand layer was down, I put down the Gator Base panels.  Much more about laying the pavers in 

I'm going to go on a diatribe here about the Gator Base panels..  Alliance, the company that makes the panels, claims you don't need the standard 6 inches of compacted aggregate base if you use their panels.  Since I didn't want to dig out the standard depth 8 to 9 inches of dirt in my yard, that sounded really appealing.   Once I started removing the top layer of dirt, I quickly realized I had to do a lot of digging anyway to level out the ground.  I also realized the soil was "speaking to me".  When I would pull off a chunk of grass, weeds, and top soil, quite a bit of the soil underneath would come with it.  My yard was telling me, "I don't care if you only want to dig down a few inches, you're going to take out what we tell you to".  Before you know it, I was down 6 inches or so.  At this point, was using the Gator Base the right decision?  I only have 3 inches of aggregate rather than the standard 6 inches, so maybe just for added insurance, using the panels is still prudent.  As I was putting down the first pavers, I realized how much more difficult it would be to set them in sand.  You only need to place the paver down and slide it into place with the panel, no setting and leveling needed.  There is a big disadvantage to using the panels.  If there's a bump in the sand underneath the panel, the panel might dip or bulge just enough so the paver doesn't lay 100% flat, and you can see gap with the next paver as narrower or wider.  If you're using just sand, no panels, you can just pound it in a bit to get it completely even.  

Pile of aggregate 

You can see pile of top soil, spread aggregate and compacter machine

sand smoothed out flat using 10 foot 1/2" gas pipes

Gator Base panels over the sand

Unilock Umbriano French Grey, just testing

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