All of the tools you need for the installation, including chalk and granite, are available online and at most home improvement stores. Dig down at least 4 in 10 cm to create space for the granite. The exact depth will depend on the project, but a 4 in 10 cm layer of granite is enough for most areas that will receive heavy traffic. Use shovels to remove soil from the excavation area.
This will be where you pour the granite later, so make sure it is cleared out sufficiently. For patios, driveways, and other areas that experience heavy foot traffic, try installing a 6 in 15 cm for extra durability. If the soil is soft or sandy, plan on installing a thicker layer of granite. Try making excavating 6 in 15 cm or deeper. You can always dig deeper to fit more granite. It increases the cost of the project, but the thicker layer helps ensure the granite lasts longer.
Level out the ground by raking and compacting it. Dig up any rocks, tree roots, and other debris left in the hole. Once the area is clear, rake the soil to finish flattening it. Then, use a tool like a plate compactor to compress it. To use a compactor, turn it on and push it over the soil several times. Some places rent out mechanical plate compactors. You could also use a handheld tamper, which is a square tool you can push against tough to reach areas to flatten them.
For a more makeshift option, lay down a wood board and hammer it to flatten the soil. Part 2. Place header boards around the edge of the excavation area. Header boards are basically boundaries meant to keep the granite packed into the hole you dug.
The most common type of edging material is called redwood bender boards. The boards are flexible, making them useful for framing even curved granite paths. Bend the boards by hand, pressing them into the soil to place them. Overlap each board by about 1 in 2. Metal is a sturdy alternative to wood that works well for almost any project. Plastic is also useful, especially around gardens.
Place stakes about every 4 to 6 ft 1. Start at one end of your project and measure out from there, planting stakes as you go. Put the stakes on alternating sides, keeping them right up next to the boards.
Plant them by hammering them down into the soil until they are 1 in 2. Position the fastener against the middle part of the stake on its outer edge. When you secure everything together, the fastener will pass through the stake and into the header boards. Plastic edging material often does not require stakes. Spread a weed barrier over the soil if you wish to protect it from weeds. If you suspect that weeds will be an issue, get a roll of weed barrier fabric and some galvanized garden staples.
Roll the fabric out so it covers the area you excavated. Place the staples about every 1 ft 0. Then, hammer them through the fabric to secure it to the ground. Use a utility knife to cut it to size.
Installing a weed barrier is optional, although it often works well for garden areas and paths. A weed barrier is meant to stop weeds from growing underneath the fabric. Over time, weeds may eventually settle on top of it. The fabric can also prevent water from draining through the granite as quickly as it usually does. Part 3. Calculate how much granite you will need for the project. Measure the length, width, and depth of the hole you dug in feet. If it is uneven, such as for a path, measure its entire length, then measure the width where the path is widest.
Sometimes called poly pavement, decomposed granite with resin is the strongest and most durable option, making it great for driveways and high traffic areas. The look will not be as natural as loose or stabilized decomposed granite, but it will be much more resilient. Pavements made with decomposed granite and resin will not erode or be tracked away. One downside to selecting the resin option is that the drainage is nowhere near as good as loose or stabilized decomposed granite.
Keep in mind, when you first install the decomposed granite, it will have a darker color. But the hue will lighten up over time due to use and sun exposure. When working with decomposed granite, be aware that the bags are very heavy. A single project requires numerous bags, which can add up to a lot of labor. Click here to read about our landscaping specials!
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I agree to these terms. Learn how your comment data is processed. Skip to content. Where are we going and how do we want to get there? Do you need a pathway from the side gate to the back yard? Walkway from the patio to the garden? Or how about a cost effective patio area or hardscape apron? For a general-use residential pathway system, the easiest way to get started is by marking out the project area.
This will help you visualize the pathway and its boundaries. Using a garden hose , rope , or for the truly daring, a can of upside-down marker paint — map out the project area. Remember to stand back and take in several vantage points of the outlines. Does it look like your vision? If not, then keep tweaking it! And, if your brain is weary from processing too many revisions, bring in a another set of eyes to offer a fresh perspective.
Think of this step as a free license to spray paint your back yard with graffiti sometimes referred to as tagging. This is always an interesting and spirited debate. Straight lines or curves? The Logic Thinker , the one who predominantly relies on the left side of the brain , will usually lean more toward straight lines. In this world of thought, objects are linear, parallel, and sense is made from seeing more than one object conform.
What looks straight from two feet away, looks ridiculously crooked from 10 feet away — and this can be a maddening feat.
The Creative Thinker , the one who predominantly relies on the right side of the brain , will typically crave a more random and artistic approach to boundaries represented by curves.
When everything is straight, they find harmony in nonconformity. The con to curves, and more specifically the overuse or aggressive hairpin design of such, can be what appears as total chaos. No one wants a jumbled mess, especially on a walking path! The answer lies, as does beauty , in the eyes of the beholder. And suffice to say that congruent use of both will serve a project well. For the reckless, this will not be a fun experience.
But with a dash of concern and a sprinkle of care, you will save yourself hours of fits during this phase. The point is, be careful, but more importantly mindful of what might be down there and the damage that will ensue if something goes wrong.
This will allow for a sturdy subbase and surface layer. You will not be using them on this project, but maybe they fit into another? If you have any areas that need grade modifications, move the native soil into a stockpile nothing is more frustrating than having to pay for fill dirt on a future project when you had some laying around. Now we have an excavated pathway project ready for new materials.
This is where the fun begins, where your project transcends the demolition and prep phase and enters construction phase. That point where you become an artist, and this dirt below the project known as the subgrade is your blank canvas. Where does water pool or run off in comparison to your pathway location? Will the path be exposed to regular water other than rain , like sprinkler irrigation?
Answering these questions and factoring in solutions may save your pathway project. The subgrade stage is the perfect time to manage drainage issues. Think about all places water will come from; rain , sprinklers , gutter downspouts , drip irrigation , swimming pool overflow , etc.
If any of these will cause water to pool up or flow with force, you need an underground drainage system. Catch basins and corrugated drain pipe will work wonders, just be sure to consider slope for flow and a sensible exit area for the excess water. You only need to expend a little effort to prepare the subgrade in most cases. The goal is to expose inconsistencies in the native soil ; mole or gopher tunnels, decomposing rocks, washouts, or sinkholes. Compact the subgrade layer with a vibratory plate compactor.
This is a gas powered piece of equipment available at most any rental supply store. The vibrating plate rocks back and forth performing two functions; 1 compacting loose materials into a tighter and more structurally sound mass, and; 2 propelling itself forward to make life easier for the operator.
Usually 3 to 4 passes over the entire area will suffice. At both the subgrade and subbase stages see more below , there are two different camps of installation methodology about using weed or landscape fabric. In the old days, people used plastic or visqueen horribly inefficient over time and not beneficial for nearby plants.
The problem with using landscape fabric underneath a natural DG pathway is that it can act like a pond liner. Meaning, any water that permeates the surface as opposed to running off can get trapped for a period of time until flow-through or evaporation occurs. Where this is beneficial in a planter bed as a moisture retention method, it can be devastating for a pathway. Weed fabric is not to be confused with geo-grid or geo fabric.
Geo-grid materials are usually mesh woven fabrics or plastic with large openings throughout. Geo-grid helps reduce erosion by bonding layers together making it difficult for one layer to slide off of another. Are you starting to feel like a professional installer yet? The next step is to install the subbase layer. Did we get your attention? What Steve was saying was that you cannot simply slap a pretty cover on a pile of junk and hope to have a worthwhile product that would last.
For your decomposed granite path to hold up, it needs a good subbase. The subbase layer is where all the load bearing strength comes from.
Just like your house needs walls to hold up the roof, so must your pathway have support from below. Depending on how much material you excavated and how much load bearing support is needed more foot traffic vs. This will allow for adequate compaction , once again, using the vibratory plate compactor in 3 to 4 passes over the evenly graded loose material. What does gradation and minus mean? Great question, glad you asked.
Materials that compact well are often crushed aggregates that are run through a series of screens to obtain certain sizes. Compaction ratings are excellent and degradation is typically very minimal. Hence the term road base , these optimal subbase materials are also supporting many of the roads and freeways you drive your car on every day.
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