The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2011 10:49 am**

1) Sub-Base

I compacted my sub-base about 6 weeks ago when I last had some time off. Since then, it has had plenty of rain on it and foot traffic, and the surface seems to have a lot of loose grit on it with some of the larger stones having become displaced.

Now, I have a week off next week and intend completing the driveway. I was going to go over it again with the wacker to make sure it is fully compacted, but I was wondering if it would be a good idea to brush over a thin layer of grit sand in order to fill any voids and then wack that down Would this help avoid any unwanted settlement ?

2) Mitre Cuts

I have been practicing with some spare blocks to mitre corners, but they donâ€™t seem to fit together very well. Obviously, I have not got the angles correct for the cuts that I am doing. At the moment, Iâ€™m using an angle grinder, but would I get more accurate cuts using a block splitter?

Also, what is the best way to measure the angle of the cut required? Would you cut one block as close to 45 degrees as possible and then mark the second block against this one before cutting it ?

Cheers

Paul

Posted: **Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:31 pm**

Hi Paul,
1, Give it a few passes with the wacker blinding it with some grit sand won't do any harm but is probably not necessary.
2, Don't bother with a 90deg mitre on block paving it looks better with a full brick butted to another that leads off on the new course. Always finish with a full block placing the cut a few block in so it's not so noticable. I only mitre angles around 45deg. You should be able to get an accurate cut with a grinder but I would reccomend a saw so you can have dust suppresion and it'll cut neater and quicker too. Depending on the block I'm not a huge fan of splitters they work well on some and badly on others so only use them when specified.

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:59 am**

I'm a bit surprised at your answer concerning mitred corners? The guide on the website says; "Mitred joints are one of the key signs of a professional job - it's much easier to use butt-joints or cut blocks, kerbs, flags, setts or whatever is being used, so that they just "fill the gap", but a mitred joint is the mark of a craftsman. It takes longer to complete, and it takes a lot more skill, but the end result is always worth the effort".

Naturally, even as a novice DIY'er I want to get the best possible finish to my driveway, as I have to live with it, and a mitred joint looks better, hence my particular question.

Can any of our other resisdent professional pavers out there care to offer any advice.

As always, thanks for your help

Paul

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 7:17 pm**

mitred corners are a piece of pish
i tend to lay 2 blocks then scribe them,then take these out lay 2 in the other way and scribe them
this alleviates any discrepancy in the angle
not sure if pablo knew exactly what you meant
LLL

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:38 pm**

Cheers, that's a great help. Will practice a bit before I lay any blocks in anger

Posted: **Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:17 pm**

i think this is what you are after

LLL

Posted: **Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:47 pm**

The Brew Cabin

Hope to finish my drive soon - A couple of questions though.