# How much gravel/sand under 20' x 20' patio?



## chusav (Sep 6, 2012)

How many inches of gravel should I put for a good base under a 20' x 20' patio? Topped with how many inches of sand? Do I need both gravel and sand? Patio will be made using 12" x 12" blocks. I live in Ct. Thanks.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

chusav said:


> How many inches of gravel should I put for a good base under a 20' x 20' patio? Topped with how many inches of sand? Do I need both gravel and sand? Patio will be made using 12" x 12" blocks. I live in Ct. Thanks.


 
This might answer your question.


*BASE PREPARATION*
We will prepare 4 inches of Class II Road Base for the vehicular areas and 2 inches for the pedestrian areas. Once the base has been set, we will hose the base down, and compact it until we reach a compaction level of 95%. At this point if the bob-cat drives over the prepared base, you will not see any tires mark, as it is literally hard as a rock, which is exactly what you want.
*SAND PREPARATION*

We will screed 1 inch of sharp angled bedding sand over the entire base, which is specially designed for the pavers. This is not round beach sand that you would find at your local beaches. It is sharp and angular in design and locks into the paver joints.


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## RegLearning (Oct 23, 2011)

look up hpb (high performance bedding) or otherwise known as 1/4" chip. It's a little more pricing but works great for a diyer


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## Evstarr (Nov 15, 2011)

Pay attention to the compacting portion of your instructions.


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## KevinPh (May 25, 2012)

You need sand to have a smooth surface to set the pavers on. For a patio that will not support vehicles, you can use 4" of limestone screening as the base, make sure it is compacted with a tamper - you can rent one from a landscape supply store. You can also use aggregate or HPB as one other poster said. The reason they specify 1" of sand is that half or more of it falls through the aggregate base. 

Kevin
www.home-additions-startup-guide.com


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