Why are they called interlocking concrete pavers?
It is the system that makes them interlocking concrete pavers, not necessarily the shape. When installed properly, the combination of the pavers, bedding sand, edge restraint and joint sand causes them to interlock, allowing them to work as a unified, flexible pavement. Does the color go all the way through the paver? Most are manufactured with a process that concentrates an extra dosage of cement and pigment on the wear layer. You’ll never wear through this layer over the lifetime of the installation. Other pavers may have pigment throughout. How do I know how much stone base material and sand I’ll need? As a rule of thumb, use a minimum of 3-5 of base material for walkways, 6-8 for patios, and 8-12 for driveways. The sand setting bed should be 1 thick. One ton of modified stone or sand will cover 100 square feet at 2 thick. Using a 10′ x 10′ (100 square feet) patio as an example, you would need 1/2 ton of sand for the setting bed (1 thick) and 3 tons of modified stone for the base (6
Concrete paving stones are engineered so that when installed properly a locking effect is created that keeps each paver from moving independently of its neighbors. There are different degrees of interlock that can be obtained based on the application and paver installation pattern selected. When installed properly, the combination of the pavers, bedding sand, edge restraint and joint sand causes them to interlock, allowing them to work as a unified, flexible pavement. It is the locking of the pavers that causes loads to be spread over a wider area of pavers than where the load was applied. It’s the key to the strength of the pavement system.
(click here to read Frequently Asked Questions About Pavers) It is the system that makes them interlocking concrete pavers, not necessarily the shape. When installed properly, the combination of the pavers, bedding sand, edge restraint and joint sand causes them to interlock, allowing them to work as a unified, flexible pavement. How much modified stone base material is need? As a rule of thumb, a minimum of 4-6″ of base material for walkways and patios, and 8-12″ for driveways. The sand setting bed should be 1″ thick. How do pavers compare with patterned or stamped concrete? Patterned concrete pavements are merely slabs of concrete that are embossed with a pattern. Therefore, they are prone to the same problems cycles, namely cracking and spalling. Pavers won’t crack or spall. Stamped concrete requires expansion (control joints) joints every 10 feet or so which are very distracting in some patterns. Also, unlike Pavers, patterned concrete pavements don’t allow access to underground ut
