Bedding sand- do i need it? - Local mason co. says base is good enuf

[LarryL9797]

Gents! Great board!

I called my local Mason Supply house and ordered my blocks, base material, edging and spikes. However, when I asked about the bedding sand, the sales person said that contractors dont really use/need bedding sand all that much anymore. They just lay the blocks right on top of the compacted base mtl. and use polymetric sand instead. The rub here is that no litrature, videos or even an on site demo layed concrete block with out using an inch of bedding sand between the base and blocks. I even spoke with the manager and he gave me the same story-the pros in Central Connecticut dont use it.. My delivery is gonna come in in a day or so and i dont know which way to go with this one...

Thanks in Advance!

[lutonlagerlout]

well maybe they know something we dont larry??
but i cant see how you can lay concrete blocks without a bedding layer
they are talking rubbish to be frank
LLL

[LarryL9797]

LLL- thats what I thought... telling them to add some sand to industry specs.
I'll post up some before and after pics.

[LarryL9797]

Got the sand ordered! Thanks! One more quick question. I will be laying pavers on 2 different base materal. Approx 80 Square feet of the pavers will be ontop of a cement pad, and the other 90 square feet will be on a traditional base of crushed gravel. I am planning on having th 2 fields meet seamlessly without having to have a transition or step. The preimiter pavers on the concrete pad will be glued down and the field will be locked in with polymetric sand. the question is, do I need to glue down all four perimiters of pavers that will be on the the concrete base? Or do I just glue down 3 sides and the 4th side will be held in place by the 2nd field of pavers?

[lutonlagerlout]

larry have a read of this
most of the blokes here are uk/ire based but generally if you do what you suggest it will become obvious as time passes,there will be no settlement on the concrete pad and a little on the aggregate subbase
exactly what kind of pavers are you using?
in the uk the gap between pavers is like 2mm, 1/12 inch
for polymeric i guess the gap would have to be bigger?
cheers LLL

[LarryL9797]

I am using a 6"x9" ( 152mm x 229mm ) sized pavers. There looks like there are 2 mm lugs on the sides.

Cambridge Paving stones - Kings Court

My design is to be a East-West border of 6x9 and the field will be a 90 deg herringbone.

You bring up an extrememly valid point I *was* going to glue the border down and lay the herringbone field as one unit, gluing the course from the concrete to base sand without taking into consideration the actual trasnition. Was just gonna glue down the last pavers that touch the concrete.

and then I was going to get upset when the settling occured and some of the guled pavers popped off.

Now I guess there are 2 ways to handle this...
1. Add a border course of the primary field color. ( see Pic )
2. glue the field as I lay and cut the pavers following the end of the Concrete. That would give me a separation of base materials. how to you guys over the pond handle these kind of transitsions?
:;):

[cookiewales]

hi Larry you need to check the heights of paviors they do vary a bit i presume when you say glue you mean tile adhesive that can be used outside.normally you mix this and is fast setting not a easy job to keep the tops all level which is what these blocks are designed to do when whacked into sand you would be better with large tiles or slate try and keep expansion joints as your drawing cheers cookie :;): :;):