How to lay crazy paving

[MitchellMc]

MitchellMc

Bunnings Team Member

Difficulty: Beginner

Crazy paving is a fantastic way to make a statement from the ground up. Use this mosaic-like paving to liven up your courtyard, driveway or outdoor shower base. You can also use crazy paving for tricky projects such as curved pathways.

Steps

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Step 1

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Start by preparing your concrete surface by sweeping away any dust and debris.

Cut your L-shaped tile trim with your mitre saw to fit around the perimeter of the concrete slab. Each corner of the trim will need a 45-degree angle and can be stuck down to the concrete with your adhesive sealant.

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Step 2

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Once the tile trim adhesive is dry, put on your safety gear and lay out your builder’s plastic. Take your mallet and start breaking up the tiles into large pieces. Use your sanding block and sandpaper to remove any sharp edges or corners of the broken pieces.

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Step 3

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Mix your tile adhesive in your bucket. Working in sections, use your square-notched trowel to apply a 3mm layer of adhesive across the concrete surface, making sure to cover the edges of the trim as well.

Start with the flat factory edges of your broken tiles and place them against the tile trim. Work your way around the perimeter trim placing tiles as you go. Use the odd-shaped tile pieces to fill the middle section. Remove any excess glue from the surface of the tiles with a wet sponge, and then allow the glue to dry for 24 hours.

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Step 4

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Mix up your grout using your bucket again. Take your rubber trowel and push the grout into the gaps between the tiles with a swirling motion. Smooth from different directions until the joints are full.

Wipe over the tiles with a dampened sponge to remove excess grout. Allow the grout to dry for 10 minutes.

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Step 5

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Take a damp cloth and wipe over the tiles to remove any grout haze that is left. It’s essential to remove this now, as it will be much harder to clean off once dry. Allow to dry overnight thoroughly.

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Step 6

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Wipe over the surface again with a damp cloth and then apply two coats of the grout and tile sealer. Leave this to dry for a few hours before walking on it.

Add garden edging, decorative pebbles and plants around your new crazy paving to finish the job.

  

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Materials

Tools

• White angle L-shape tile trim
• Tile adhesive
• Medium-to-large non-slip outdoor tiles
• Grout sealer
• Waterproof adhesive sealant
• Wide joint grout suitable for outdoor use
• Decorative pebbles
• Garden edging.

• 120-grit abrasive paper
• Sanding block
• 6mm square-notch trowel
• Broom
• Bucket
• Builder’s plastic
• Cloth
• Mitre saw
• Mallet
• Paintbrush
• Rubber trowel
• Safety equipment
• Tile sponge.

Images

[JoeyDang]

I am inspired by this paver style and going to get mine done. I found / purchased most products but could not find the wide joint grout :(. 

[Jason]

No problem @JoeyDang, let me tag one of our resident Bunnings experts in @EricL to assist you this afternoon. In the meantime, you might like to let us know your closest Bunnings store.

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. We're looking forward to reading all about your projects and plans for around the house and garden, and particularly seeing your crazy paving project come to life.

Jason

[JoeyDang]

Hi Jason,

Thank you for the response.  I went to Bunnings in Wairau,  Glenfield - Northshore.

[EricL]

Hello @JoeyDang

It's great to hear that the crazy paving project has inspired you to make your own. The Dunlop wide joint grout will have to be ordered from the Special Orders Desk. It's designed to fill gaps from 5 to 50mm so it should be perfect for your project. I've placed an image below to give you an idea of what it looks like.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[darvik]

Hi Team, This looks pretty good, How do i estimate all the material that is required to this kind of design or is it just easy to find out the right sort of tiles and use a tiler to do it.

[EricL]

Hello @darvik 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's marvellous to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about tiling material estimation.

A quick way to find out the number of square meters you'll be covering is to multiply the width and length of the area. For example, your area is 4m x 6m this will give you a sum of 24 square meters. 

If 1 box of tiles covers 1 square meter, you'll need 24 boxes. You won't need to use all of it because you are doing crazy paving, but this is the quantity you'll need to get to make sure that the area is covered. A bag of grout like the Dunlop Wide Joint Grout is rated to cover 28 square meters, more than enough to cover your project. Then there is the tile adhesive, this will also have a rated coverage in front of the bag.

If you've done tiling before, I suggest planning out the tile formation so that it will make tiling easy. However, if you are pressed for time then I suggest engaging the services of a professional tiler.   

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[mich1972]

Wow !!! That’s really interesting. Something different, I love it 😃