Prevent Tracked In Dirt With Patios, Pathways And Pavers

The winter months can bring rain, snow and other moisture to create soft, muddy front and back yards. If you have kids or pets who love to play outside, there’s a good chance they are bringing that soft dirt and mud back in with them on their shoes and paws. One way to help reduce the amount of dirt being tracked into your house is to create patios and pathways which can create mud-free zones in your yard. Pavers are an affordable and easy way to create these outside surfaces, which can save your carpets and floors inside your home. 

Benefits Of Patio And Pathways

If you don’t currently have a sidewalk or paved pathway to both your front and back doors, now is the time to install one before the weather turns wet. Additionally, having even a small patio where kids can take off their shoes or paws can be wiped down before coming in the house can make a big difference in your indoor cleaning. 

Choosing Your Pavers

For both pathways and patios, there is an immense variety of pavers you can use for building beautiful surfaces. The type you choose will depend on the colors and shapes you prefer, along with your budget. The most common choices for pavers include: 

–        Brick. The classic look of brick can add style to any outdoor area. Brick is fairly inexpensive since it’s a man-made material. You can choose from classic red brick, or many other varieties of colors.

–        Cement pavers. One of the most affordable and versatile options is cement pavers. There are hundreds of varieties of shapes, sizes and color. For those on a budget with large areas to cover, cement pavers are definitely an excellent choice.

–        Natural stone pavers. For a rustic aesthetic appeal, natural stone pavers are the ultimate in style. Although very beautiful, natural stone pavers are also the most expensive, due to the limited supply and cost of obtaining these rocks from their natural source. 

Visit your local landscape supply store to find the perfect paver to keep excess dirt out of your home in the months to come.

Posted on behalf of Find Local Landscape Supply

Installing Pavers

Brick, natural stone, and concrete pavers are very popular for creating attractive, durable outdoor surfaces such as patios, walkways and driveways.  Pavers come in wide range of colors, styles and sizes and they make a wonderful addition to any landscape.

Another reason pavers are so popular is because they are easy to install.  Installation requires some planning, getting your hands dirty, and some moderately heavy lifting, but most do it yourselfers can install pavers with great results.

Pavers can be installed on bare ground, on gravel, or on concrete, but the most common way for the do it yourselfer is to install them on a bed of sand. The first step is to plan your project by preparing a sketch of the design.  This will help visualize how the final project will look and help in ordering materials.

Next, measure the area and mark around the edges.  The area will need to be excavated deep enough to allow for the height of the pavers and an additional 2 inches for the sand base.  Excavate the area so that the top of the pavers will be slightly higher than the surrounding are to prevent water from pooling on top of your project.

Fill the excavated area with a two inch layer of sand, then compact the sand with a plate compacter from your local equipment rental shop.  Now you are ready to start laying your pavers.  Start from one corner and work your way out toward the other side.  Set the pavers by rapping them gently with a wooden mallet or compacting them lightly with the plate compactor.

Fill in the gaps between the pavers with sand by spreading sand over the top of your project and sweeping the sand into the cracks and enjoy your new patio or walkway.