# Forum Home Renovation Paving  concrete base to lay pavers do i use sand or motar mix

## ceaser

Hi Guys And Girls,
Decided to go with a concrete base for a Court Yard.
Using a 50mm Pavers 400mm by 300mm.
My question is shell i lay a sand base or a mortar bed.
Can i use a 25mm conduit to screen either mix.

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## ozwinner

If you are going to all the trouble to lay concrete for the pavers a little extra work for mortar will be well worth the effort. 
I would think 25mm conduit would be far to flexible to screed with, get yourself some straight timber instead. 
Al  :Cool:

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## joe greiner

A well-tamped sand base would be superior IMHO. A concrete base would have to be a fully-reinforced structural slab to resist flexure; a thinner concrete base would just crack anyway. After laying the pavers, pack more sand into the joints and broom away any excess. Such an installation will also allow water to percolate into the underlying soil for better drainage. In case of any subsequent movement of individual pavers, just remove, re-tamp and replace. 
Joe

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## Bleedin Thumb

Its important that you *do* mix cement in with your bedding sand if you lay over concrete, because your bedding sand won't have drainage and sand can get forced out of the joints when its saturated - cement stops this. 
You dont need much about 60kg of cement/tonne mixed well is plenty. 
Oz winner is right about the conduit being too flexible, you want something non-flexible.
The screeding of your sand/cement mix is very important to your final quality so take your time and get it perfect by using rails to screed over. 
Screed your mix so the paver will sit 5 -7 mm proud of your FFL then compact with a flat plate compactor.  
Good luck - before and after photos are also a prerequisite :Biggrin:  .

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## SystemTester

Just had our backyard done (by a paving contractor). 
I wasn't there for the job but I do know he laid a 75mm slab with mesh reinforcing.  As far as I know there were no joints in this slab.  I also think he laid some ag pipe under the slab. 
We had two seperate sections of paving done.  The first being our main area where the pavers are butted end to end.  Again, as far as I know the pavers themselves were glued to the underlying slab.  What he did to finish and joint between each of the pavers was sweep a wet solution of mortor about the place and hose it in.  He had one bloke hosing and the other bloke sweeping it in.  Worked very well and there is no movement between pavers.  Now that I have sealed it as well that grey dust that was coming away from these areas is there forever. 
The other section was a stepped paver arrangement.  They were on the same 75mm slab and again glued down. 
Not exactly relevant for your job but the bit about hosing in a mortor solution between the paving might be a tip you can use.  I've search high and low on my work machine for some pictures of the finished job but can't find any.  Will drop some here when I get a chance.

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## varpy

Keen to know more please SystemTester.  
How thick was the paver? How big the area? Level? How much per sq. metre and did you see how the slurry was done - ie the cleanup/strength of mix etc..... 
.....you still here?   :Smilie:

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## varpy

BTW I think Ceaser means using 25mm conduit as the channels for the screed. Not the screed itself.   :Smilie:

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