jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

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cerrano
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jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by cerrano »

so we're going to have a back yard patio installed (finally) and the price is right from a mason who everybody seems to like, but when it comes to picking pavers, the mason recommends cambridge ledgestone 3 piece which is a nice design, but it's hard to find reviews. i found a few and the reviews aren't consistent, but i know nothing about pavers.


has anybody installed cambridge pavers? if you've done a paver patio, what brand did you use for your pavers and do brands matter? if we don't have our heart set on a design or color, is there any kind i should avoid? i guess i'm just asking for any advice from you guys if you had patio pavers installed recently and learned anything.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by Rush2112 »

We replaced our shitty ass brick patio 3 years ago. I got whatever the generic Home Depot bulk brand is and have had no complaints. The 'sheen' has gone a bit so they look a little worn but I think it looks better. We have had to replace the paver sand stuff that is in between the pavers this Spring, but some of that may be because we certainly aren't professionals so don't know if that's something you do or is something that was needed because we didn't do things up to 'code.'
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

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i'm here for the war on capitalization!
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by P.D.X. »

Stone is stone and I'd suspect a contractor would only push a certain line if it was easier for him or if he was getting a deal on it.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by The Sybian »

cerrano wrote: Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:11 am so we're going to have a back yard patio installed (finally) and the price is right from a mason who everybody seems to like, but when it comes to picking pavers, the mason recommends cambridge ledgestone 3 piece which is a nice design, but it's hard to find reviews. i found a few and the reviews aren't consistent, but i know nothing about pavers.


has anybody installed cambridge pavers? if you've done a paver patio, what brand did you use for your pavers and do brands matter? if we don't have our heart set on a design or color, is there any kind i should avoid? i guess i'm just asking for any advice from you guys if you had patio pavers installed recently and learned anything.
I'll be following up with you. We are looking to have a patio put in as well. I've had a couple companies out to give me ideas, the one I wanted to go with charges to talk to his designer and the estimated price range was so fucking enormous, I don't want to pay $1,500 to find out they are way more expensive than I want to pay. Another guy has a plan all drawn out, bringing it over Thursday. He was super excited about becoming an authorized installer with Techo Bloc. Their catalog is slick AF, but I'm guessing they will be a lot more expensive than I want to pay. It's just so hard to compare pricing across companies.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by rass »

Kicking off this process and I don't like making a decision based on little pictures in a glossy book. Which is too bad because that would be easier than having to go some place else to look at our options.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by The Sybian »

rass wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 8:07 am Kicking off this process and I don't like making a decision based on little pictures in a glossy book. Which is too bad because that would be easier than having to go some place else to look at our options.
If you are looking for recommendations, you have to go with ASL Group Landscaping out of Watchung. The owner is phenomenal and they do great work. He came in at 50% of the quote we almost went with. A little less in scope, but not much. They did a 25 x 20 patio and retaining wall in 3 days, while the other guy estimated a month. That reminds me, I need to reach out to him to reseed around the retaining wall and do some other Spring projects.

ASL uses materials they get from Hall's Garden Center on Springfield in BH. They have all the materials on display. Feel free to look at my patio for reference.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by HaulCitgo »

I once had a client pick up a load of rock for a patio I planned to install. Fucker picked up crushed concrete instead and it had tiny bits of rebar in it. Half a dump truck or so in the front yard. So I had to pay someone else to bring the right rock and then river rock to go over that. So the entire backyard became gravel because I wanted a patio. Turned out nice though. Was shaded and hard to grow grass. Let me tell you moving that amount of rock with a wheelbarrow is a bitch. A couple of teens and some home depot guys helped to get it done in the better part of a weekend but that and moving dirt and digging stumps are really labor intensive. Of course we decided to sell the house before I got the patio part finished. After the rock I waited a bit to install the bricks. Do hire someone. Its rather difficult to screen sand flat and I didnt have the time to lay it all out in a day. So I tried to lay the sand as I went with the bricks. Not the proper technique and it shows. But the (smaller) patio I almost finished (cutting brick requires equipment) is still there. Suprisingly durable.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by rass »

HaulCitgo wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 9:33 am I once had a client pick up a load of rock for a patio I planned to install. Fucker picked up crushed concrete instead and it had tiny bits of rebar in it. Half a dump truck or so in the front yard. So I had to pay someone else to bring the right rock and then river rock to go over that. So the entire backyard became gravel because I wanted a patio. Turned out nice though. Was shaded and hard to grow grass. Let me tell you moving that amount of rock with a wheelbarrow is a bitch. A couple of teens and some home depot guys helped to get it done in the better part of a weekend but that and moving dirt and digging stumps are really labor intensive. Of course we decided to sell the house before I got the patio part finished. After the rock I waited a bit to install the bricks. Do hire someone. Its rather difficult to screen sand flat and I didnt have the time to lay it all out in a day. So I tried to lay the sand as I went with the bricks. Not the proper technique and it shows. But the (smaller) patio I almost finished (cutting brick requires equipment) is still there. Suprisingly durable.
But how is the mound holding up?
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

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Mound remains solid but kid doesnt play baseball anymore. Trying to win at soccer. Doh! Possible repurpose for pole vaulting daughter forthcoming
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by The Sybian »

Rush2112 wrote: Tue Jun 30, 2020 11:46 am We replaced our shitty ass brick patio 3 years ago. I got whatever the generic Home Depot bulk brand is and have had no complaints. The 'sheen' has gone a bit so they look a little worn but I think it looks better. We have had to replace the paver sand stuff that is in between the pavers this Spring, but some of that may be because we certainly aren't professionals so don't know if that's something you do or is something that was needed because we didn't do things up to 'code.'
Our patio guy said he would come out every few years to fill in the sand.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by Brontoburglar »

I'm now kind of curious as to what these cost when installed by the pros. we're going to be doing a retaining wall and patio in the next couple of months, but I'll be doing 90% of the labor. neighbor and I are renting an excavator for the week so that will be fairly easy/not that labor intensive. the fun part will be putting in all the paver bricks and installing the retaining wall evenly
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

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Brontoburglar wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 10:56 am I'm now kind of curious as to what these cost when installed by the pros. we're going to be doing a retaining wall and patio in the next couple of months, but I'll be doing 90% of the labor. neighbor and I are renting an excavator for the week so that will be fairly easy/not that labor intensive. the fun part will be putting in all the paver bricks and installing the retaining wall evenly
I think we ended up paying $17,000 all in, including two beds of trees, and two beds of bushes along the side of the house and lighting in all of the beds. First guy came in at $32,000. He was going to put in two rows of planter boxes between the patio and the driveway and potentially a gate door where you enter the patio from the driveway. He was also adding a corner seating wall and potentially a built in firepit for an additional $3000. The guy I mentioned upthread who charged to meet with the designer was talking $75,000 range, but that included redoing the entire driveway, which is in really bad shape. The driveway has a weird curve at the street end, as they went around a giant tree we had to take out as it was dying. That guy was obsessed with straightening the driveway, which really doesn't bother me. He was also going to but in large planting beds on the side of the house closer to the street end. We were going to drastically reduce his vision but didn't want to pay the designer if we didn't go with them.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by Brontoburglar »

holy crap

my budget is like $3K
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by The Sybian »

Brontoburglar wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 11:13 am holy crap

my budget is like $3K
You can try plywood with a stone pattern laminated floor?
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by A_B »

If you're doing 90% of the labor that's going to be huge. And naturally it will take you more time than a professional, most likely, but hey, it's your time. I'd get a cost for stone, sand, glue and gravel, add some overage then see what you think. I've only done a relatively small retaining wall (about 12-15 feet in total length and oh, 3.5 feet high. It wasn't bad and I got it done in a weekend but that's a lot smaller than what you're doing.
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Re: jeeves wants to be outside: patio pavers

Post by Brontoburglar »

A_B wrote: Tue Mar 30, 2021 12:40 pm If you're doing 90% of the labor that's going to be huge. And naturally it will take you more time than a professional, most likely, but hey, it's your time. I'd get a cost for stone, sand, glue and gravel, add some overage then see what you think. I've only done a relatively small retaining wall (about 12-15 feet in total length and oh, 3.5 feet high. It wasn't bad and I got it done in a weekend but that's a lot smaller than what you're doing.
the area isn't too large and it's also been slowly getting prepped for this ever since we moved in. It's going to be a giant pain in the ass, but ultimately i do enjoy these projects. And the excavator will help a ton.

I also think we're going to go with a "rough wall" vs. pavers (the type of larger asymmetrical blocks vs. smaller blocks that look exactly like each other.
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