Making a paved patio area the easy way

Laying a patio can be made easy by following these steps:

1. Choose your paving slabs - the bigger the less time involved

2. Plan out an area that can be laid with whole paving slabs (i.e. no cutting), allowing for a 5 inch gravel border near walls for drainage and a quarter inch for joints

3. Dig out the paved area to a depth of 2-3 inches plus the depth of your paving slab

4. Compact the sub soil as best you can

5. Spread a layer of sand and level it as best you can by scraping and tamping with a piece of wood - the level should be a little more than the depth of your paving slab

6. Place a row and column of paving slabs on the bed of sand to test and refine their final positions

7. When satisfied with the refined positions, lift a lay each paving slab in turn using five (or more) blobs of mortar on the sand, corresponding to each corner and the centre of your paving slab

8. Tap down each paving slab onto the blobs of mortar with a hammer and block of wood to the desired height and level

9. Insert quarter inch spacers between laid slabs and check levels regularly using a spirit level (and datum pegs)

10. Remove spacers and fill the gaps between the paving slabs by brushing a dry mortar mix in the gaps (only do in dry conditions)

You should not walk on this paving for 2-3 days.

If the paving is for more than just walking and recreation you need a sub-base of crushed and properly compacted stone before the sand layer.