# How much will road base compact?



## jbdkisner (Jan 29, 2010)

I am going to lay a small paver patio in the back yard. I was told the best paver base is road base. My question(s). How much will road base compact?

Also, if I need 4 inches of paver base, is that before or after compaction? If I toss in 4 inches and compact, and compaction is about 25% (from what I read), that would give me about 3 inches after compaction. Is that okay, or do I have to add additional road base to make it 4 inches?

I was also told the a 2 inch paver in one inch of sand will compact about 1/4 to 1/2 inch? True?

Reason I am asking it that I am trying to get the pavers lined up with a slab of concrete on the side of the house.

I have search this forum all day yesterday, and all of my other questions have been answered.

Thanks
Jacob


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## GardenConcepts (Jan 21, 2010)

If you want a 4" layer, that means 4" compacted. If you use a plate compactor, make sure you don't compact all your base stone at once. You'll get better compaction if you do it in 'lifts' of 2-3". Keep adding base and compacting until you get to your 4" thickness.

I get about 5/8" compaction in 1.25" of sand; I use 1" heavy duty electrical conduit to screed (1.25" o.d.), and I use pavers that are 2- 3/8" thick. When I do this, I set the base 3" below finished height, screed the sand, compact the pavers into the sand and all is well at finished height.


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## LandscSolutions (Feb 4, 2010)

I would also lightly sprinkle your base material with water each time you compact a 2-3" layer. This will help maximize you compaction. I would also excavate down 9" and this will allow you to install 6" of base material. This is how we install every brick paver patio and since we started installing a deeper base we have not encountered one problem down the road. I also recommend installing a filter fabric or quality geo-textile between your existing sub-base and base stone that you install.
I would also strongly recommend that you go not use a gravel road base because it often times contains too much clay. We use a 23 A Limestone (which is 3/4" stone down to fines). This is an excellent paver base as well as provides good drainage, and when wet down and compacted will be as solid as concrete (especially when it dries). I also recommend you use a coarse, washed sharp sand such as 2NS Sand. Do not use play sand, this tends to hold water and not allow it to drain fast enough. 1" o.d. metal electrical conduit is more than adequate for screed rails, you do not want to make the depth of your sand too deep. This will throw off your measurement/depth calculations, but they are easy to figure out. Good Luck!


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