How to install weed mat under paving?

[jarrod11]

Weeds mat I am doing a small area and leaving stepping stones. Do you put the road base down then weeds mat then the stepping stones put a little hole in the weeds Mat concrete then pavers can you do it that way I am seeing a lot of videos and getting different opinion from a lot of people and seeing a lot of videos I’ve got the basic idea how to do it. I’m pretty good at that kind of stuff. I just want to doublecheck can you do it that way? Thank you hear back from you soon.

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @jarrod11 

So you want to lay pavers on  cement pads on top of weed  mat it looks like.  Great

A) You wont need  road base unless you need to fix a  drainage issue for starters and it will save you $ and time. You can  use road mix to lift the  level of the area up so you  use  less concrete, but Concrete is not super  expensive.

OR 

A1) If you use  road mix and compact it you wont need concrete as the area primed ready to go People lay pavers directly on compacted  road  base once  pavers has stones  or stuff around them they rarly move.

Lay your  weed mat on anything  bare  dirt is fine  then  simply blob your concrete on top then lay your  paver on the wet cement. vary the cement height to create flat level pavers,

No need to cut weed  mat to lay concrete through it.

Ultimatly no real wrong ways here but you might  want to save some steps and time and money.

Good luck.

[jarrod11]

 

 The two photos are showed that’s what I’m doing. Do I put down the jumbo weed Mat in the road base on top or put the road base down first, then the  jumbo, we met put a little slit in it a little bit of concrete and then pavers I mean stepping stones

[JacobZ]

Hi @jarrod11,

Thank you for your question and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

It's great to see you've already had some advice from one of our knowledgeable members @Jewelleryrescue. As he has said, there is not only one way to do this, but the most important thing is that your pavers are well supported by a strong base, whether it is mortar, road base or drainage gravel.

In your circumstances, my suggestion is to start with laying your weed mat. If you plan to plant anything on either side of your pathway, I'd suggest cutting holes in the weed mat, before moving on to the pavers. You can see an example of this in How To Install Weed Matting.

If you plan to cover the entire area in your photo with stones, I'd suggest using road base or drainage gravel over the entire area, compacting with a tamper and laying your pavers directly over. 

If you plan to have grass or plants growing in and around the pavers, compact a small amount of road base under each paver then use mortar to set them in place and level. There is no need to cut through the weed mat to do this.

Check out How To Prepare For Paving and How To Prepare And Lay a Base For Pavers alongside How To Lay Pavers for some further guidance.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Jewelleryrescue]

Hi @jarrod11 

This is my  path laid on original bare  earth .  As an option method  that works and  wont ever  fail.

- Low cost

- Low Materials

- Low effort

- Will not move for ever unless disturbed intentionally

-Looks great.

1)  Lay  weed  mat  straight onto the ground (the ground  be there forever it is already compacted a thousand years.) Compaction required on loose  earth etc.

2)   Simply pour a cement  pad on  top of the  weed mat it will take the shape of the ground and allow the paver on top to be level and supported never moving.  So now you have a row of little floating   paver stepping / stone islands simply add the red stones all around them.

See Photo  as a  guide.

paver on cement on weed mat on nateral soil.

Note 

I used  outdoor tiles 18mm thick approx so the cement pad is critical to support the tile under foot to prevent  cracking. These  tiles like $2 each off gum tree. Job over runs.

Vs solid  30-40mm pavers costing $20 -$40 each which can be laid  with out concrete  at need just on a solid  base as @JacobZ  said wether it be compacted stuff, a cement pad or  both.

I also  have two  drains under the stones for flash rain  events.

3) The jobs  done.  

Path bowed around wall mounted hose.

As a idea contrast  for an ultra minimalistic garden path.  To the right in the picture  there is informal winding garden path made  from black and white Marble and granite tiles 18mm thick just sitting on old mulch and soil no cement no  compaction they have  being there 3  years  plus.   The mulch supports them eventully as it mulches down but initially  there was a bit of tile movment which risks tile  cracking.  Cracking not importand  here as they where left over tiles put to use.

A Garden path can be super simple