Paver edging problems! (1 Viewer)

[Jake14mw]

Hi all,

I wanted a fire pit on a budget, so I built my own with pea gravel with a border of pavers. It looked great for the first year. But now, the edging is all warped and looks terrible. The gravel has a tendency to get kicked between the edging and the pavers. Any suggestions on what to do now? I just want to keep the pavers in place. If I remove the edging the pavers won't stay in place. Can I dig a little trench and put a thin ring on concrete around the pavers that would come halfway up the pavers that the gravel would then cover? Help!

 

[ekricket]

I think the edging works better keeping the grass off the pavers.
Those paver company’s have a product that fits under the pavers and provides an edge I think. That might work better on either side.

 

[inca911]

@Trihonda built a really nice firepit area up at his WI northwoods cabin. He's a handy fellow and may be able to help.

My ~20 year paver patio has a "paver edge restraint" component on the outside perimeter of the bricks that is quite different from your setup. It's not relatively flimsy plastic edging , it's much sturdier and more fully integrated to prevent gaps, like what Kevin describes above.

"Perma Edge" is another option you might research, more of a concrete edging that you can add. Best of luck! My challenge is figuring out if there is a way to raise mine due to a subtle dip towards the house....

 

[GetUrShineBox]

I think there is something on the market like gravel glue that you can spray on the gravel to lock it in place. It still lets rain through and you have to respray every 1-3 years but that might be a good solution. I was thinking of trying it for my firepit.

Edit: and remove the plastic edging.

 

[Taghkanic]

I would remove the plastic edging and bring the gravel right up to the pavers. It will look much nicer.. If it really bothers you, you could probably find some bendable steel (4” or so in width) to drive in between them.

As far as the gaps between the pavers themselves, you might be able to just brush some Sakrete or the like down into the gaps, then lightly wet it down. A friend does this with paver paths in her garden and it works fine. Obviously, you’d want to test that first in 1-2 spots to try it out.

 

[Jake14mw]

I did some googling. I think I'm going to remove the plastic edging and do the thin ring of concrete that I had talked about. Didn't even really know that was a real thing!

 

[Trihonda]

I honestly believe the issue is the type of stone used. People put a lot of thought into their stone. Pea gravel might not be the best choice? But I’m no expert. My gut tells me that it’s designed to be more fluid, as opposed to certain cuts of stone and gravel that “lock” up together better. I used 3/4” stone, although driveway gravel locks up better for a more firm surface, but it looks like ass in a nice patio feature.

we used out 3/4” stone and Power tamped it down. while our stone didn’t lock up as much as driveway gravel, it did create a semi firm surface to sit chairs on, etc. it also doesnt jump out of the circle for this reason. Pea gravel would be all over the place.. in your shoe treads, in the grass, etc. unless some stone experts can weigh in differently, I’d advice replace the pea gravel, or live with it migrating…?

 

[Trihonda]

The other suggestion is to pull the pavers, run your landscape fabric under everything. It looks like you stopped it AT the pavers. Run it under your base pea, then leveling sand on top of that, then pavers on top of the sand.

This was right before finishing the firepit. We filled in some of the dips, etc. tamped down the stone. And we don’t get any stones out of the circle. We also purposely left a noticeable lip.

 

[TheDuke]

I used to landscape.

Typically the edging is used on the outer edge of the paving stone. You would then butt grass up to the edge. The paving stone would then hold on the rocks you choose.

You can find this at home depot.

Look for 'Dimex EasyFlex Paver Edging'.

And hopefully you put down a quality weed fabric underneath the rocks. As @Trihonda noted, it's best to have the weed fabric extend beyond the paving stones. You stake it into the ground with the stakes for the edging.

 

[Budha]

If you want the outside pavers to stay in place, not sink, etc., you need a footer. General rule of thumb is a min 4” footer.

You can either lay the footer, let it set, then mortar the pavers to the footer. Or the “backyard” way and lay the outer pavers in “wet”. (If you have heavy freeze/thaws you should use rebar in the footer, or you’ll be doing it again in a couple years - lol)

There are other ways, but the footer is the “correct” way to do it for just a ring of pavers with gravel in the center. The other options are more for dry laid paver patios that are already laid on a 4” - 6” base and you “set” a barrier/edge on the outside to hold the patio tight.

A footer is not hard to do, mixing the concrete is the hardest part. It doesn’t need to be perfectly finished and level as you can level the pavers in the mortar layer. (You probably want it close to level, but close is good enough)

 

[ES_Threeper]

The best way to lay pavers is to first dig down. Then lay down a couple inches of sand or stone dust, tamped and leveled. Lay your pavers in your desired layout. Then mix some sakrete to a soupy consistency. With your trowel, put the sakrete about halfway up the paver and at about a 45 degree angle out (this gives it stability once it sets so that it doesn't easily crumble). Lastly, finish the surface by spreading paver sand between the cracks.

 

[nullobject]

The other suggestion is to pull the pavers, run your landscape fabric under everything. It looks like you stopped it AT the pavers. Run it under your base pea, then leveling sand on top of that, then pavers on top of the sand.

This was right before finishing the firepit. We filled in some of the dips, etc. tamped down the stone. And we don’t get any stones out of the circle. We also purposely left a noticeable lip.

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That's a NICE setup! Looks relaxing.

 

[Hotus777]

I love all these different threads I’m finding and fellow chippers assisting in their respective fields. Starting to respect PCF a lot more! Good luck with your project, I’m a project engineer but don’t have much experience with pavers!