How to make DIY concrete pavers?

[claire_porter]

 I am thinking this would look amazing. I want to redo my back courtyard paving. What is there currently: many layers of cement I am sure (my house is from 1880s). And on top there is thin pavers <20mm which is mounted on a plastic mesh and placed directly onto the concrete - with minimal material underneath each paver aka voids everywhere - so half of them have cracks and roots/ants are living underneath the entire thing. Which may allow termites to the back of my house - I’ve had termite baits set around my house as spraying the subfloor isn’t possible - house has minimal space. Anyway the area is 5.5x5m. The pavers have been grouted and the grout is missing in areas. But it’s pretty bad. No water drainage so the water sits underneath or runs into my shed which is below the level of the pavers. So it has wood rot and termite damage (untreated pine was used). Fun times.

Anyway I’ve got lots of ideas. I want a cobblestone look but they’re too expensive and I want to do it myself and I know how diy things can look when you don’t get it done right. I’ve been playing around with loads of ideas.

this is pretty cool- the screen shot. They made the moulds and poured concrete into it. Then used sand or rocks around the edges. I want the backyard to not have gaps in the flooring. I’ve got two dogs who are meant to pee on a pee tray but one of my dogs is 50% peeing wherever (I think she thinks the pee tray is marked by the older dominant dog so is scared). Ah well. I was thinking of making these concrete shapes in grey (it’s super hot and can be 45° in summer and has full sun. So don’t want it too hot to walk on but also glare in my kitchen is a real thing so can’t be too bright. I was thinking of using a lighter concrete around the edge). So the underneath is sealed (not letting pee run down to the underneath layers) and smells can’t get down. I expect I’ll have to paint sealant on the concrete to also stop pee penetrating? I also was thinking self levelling concrete. And once it’s set I can pick the diy pavers up and add an angle to allow water drainage. My question is how much concrete. What would be the challenges here. How hard might this be. I have a deck that is currently set onto the concrete (below paving level) so the man made the frame directly onto the concrete and it rotted. I’ve remade the deck recently on plastic pedestal feet set at around 25mm. But it’s set below the current pavers and the height is limited by the existing doors. I think I might need to dig up the concrete also.  Thoughts on other issues I might have? I expect there are a lot. I like to plan a lot before starting a job 

[JacobZ]

Hi @claire_porter,

Thank you for your question.

There's a lot to digest and it's tough to get a mental picture of everything we're dealing with. Is it possible to get some photos of the area you are looking to deal with? This will help us give context to the questions so we can offer our best advice.

Your image reminds me of @Herrenovacation's DIY stepping stones on a budget, but much tighter together. You might like to have a look at what she has done for some guidance and inspiration.

A crazy paved patio like Crazy paving front porch from @EleventhCoastal might be another option you'd like to consider.

It sounds like the first step if you're planning to do any work in this area is to address the drainage issues. Without seeing your yard, it would be hard to recommend how to address these issues, so once you've provided photos, I'd be happy to assist further with this.

Unfortunately, self-levelling concrete is not intended for use as a finished floor surface and is not your best option in this case. Regular concrete with some light reinforcement is going to be your best bet. Check out How To Pour A Small Concrete Slab for an example of how regular concrete is poured and finished.

Oxide can be added to concrete to create different colours. A lighter shade will certainly help reflect some of the UV rays and reduce the heat slightly.

You could pour cobblestone-look pavers like you've mentioned, but to create a non-porous surface, they would need to be grouted and sealed to prevent urine from soaking in. There are a variety of concrete sealers to achieve different looks and levels of protection that you should have a look at.

Regular cleaning will also be one of the best ways to prevent smells from building up. Check out What's the best way to clean outdoor pavers for some of our best advice on this topic.

Allow me to tag @Jewelleryrescue, @JoeAzza, @Dave-1 and @Nailbag to see what they think and if they have any advice to offer.

There's a lot to look at so once we have some photos of the area, I'm happy to assist further with the plan.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Afternoon @claire_porter 

Now thats a doozy of a question  

I have seen those paving kits/ideas before and really like them. And I mean really really.

The problem is they wont be uniform in shape and sealing them for your issues may be in the very hard basket.

The only way I can figure to seal/lesson the build up effect is to actually lay a concrete slab down and then the crazy pave over the top. That way nothing will seep and teh stuff that does can be washed or descented. You could go as far as to reuse the concrete layers you mention broken up to go into the slab.

You mention it gets extremely hot there. Is there shade around at all? And Could we have a couple of photos of the over area and maybe one a little further back? 

I have reused concrete paths to become gabion seats Gabion wall bench seats Which you could do with the old concrete pieces, Ive also built windbreaks and fence edges with the cages (just have a look at my bookmarks) They are really good at giving shade and also pushing heat out at night (great for growing tomatoes next to) 

Im still trying to come up with ideas that will stop pee smell, a shiny surface of the paving would help as well as consistant sized pavers. If you made up a jig that you could mix batches of concrete and fill, then a shiny smooth seal. In theory if you broke up the existing concrete small enough you could use that as fill in the new pavers. 

For future pee problems I wonder if you left some dirt around a pee post (two of for two doggos) would they want to use that? 

Dave