How to lay crazystone paving down side of house?

KimP

Hello, I’m a complete newbie when it comes to DIY projects so I’m hopping on there to see if I can glean any wisdom with doing my own paving. I’m hoping to do crazy/flagstone paving down the sides of my house, using them mainly as walkways. The house is a new build so I’m starting from scratch with construction sand everywhere.

My plan:
1. Excavate down to 120mm below to where I want the paving to end up.
2. Fill in 70mm road base and compact.
3. Fill in 20mm yellow brickies sand and screed with a fall of 15mm over 1metre.
4. Set 30mm pavers on top, and brush polymer sand in between and water mist to set.
5. Sealant to finish.

My concerns:

1. Existing garage slab and pavers are sitting above the foundation slab of the house, and appears to be at a level where they partially cover the weepholes (See first picture). I want to obviously do my own paving up to the same level so they’re flush, but is it going to pose any issues with drainage down the road with partially covering up the weepholes like existing pavers did?

2. One side of the sideway will abutt the walls of the house, and one side will abutt colourbond fencing. Would it be an issue to pave right up against the house and fencing? Or do I need to leave a gap, and set a concrete edging around the perimeter and fill in garden stones in the gap.

3. Would I need to put down any drainage down the sideways, and if so, how do i connect to where it needs to connect?

4. In ground services in the sideways. At the moment the PVC pipes protrudes above ground (See 2nd picture). I assume after paving, I can cut off excess so that it’s flushed?

  

Any advice is much appreciated. Thank you so much!!

JacobZ

Hi @KimP,

A warm welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community and thank you for your question.

The steps you've detailed in your plan are great and your concerns are logical. Allow me to address your concerns individually.

1. You should not block your weep holes as partially covering the weep holes with paving can restrict ventilation and drainage, potentially causing moisture issues. Ideally, you will dig down further, so your finished height of the pavers is below the weep holes.
    
2. You should leave a gap of around 50-100mm on either side of the pathway to allow for slight movement, drainage and to stop moisture from becoming trapped against these surfaces. You can use an edging product such as Icon Plastics 75mm x 10m Jarrah Garden Edge, or you can incorporate it into the design of the pavers. You can then fill the gap with decorative stones or gravel.
    
3. Adding drainage before a project like this is usually a good idea, but it is not always necessary if you already have good drainage on this side of your property. It looks like you have quite a new home, so drainage may already be present down the side of your house. If you have access to the building plans for your home, there should be a drainage plan that can be referenced to check.
   
   If you had water pooling when it rains, it's worth adding, but it may not be necessary. Examining the area during a downpour and confirming with your drainage plan what is already in place will be the best way of determining whether you need it or not.
   
   If you decide to add drainage, the best thing to do is have a plumber connect it to your stormwater pipes so it drains to the council stormwater system.
    
4. It is likely possible to reduce the height of the plumbing inspection points, but to be sure that you are compliant with the relevant plumbing standards, this is something you would need to confirm with a plumber.

Check out How To Prepare And Lay a Base For Pavers and How To Lay Pavers for some guidance on the process.

You might also like to check out our Top 10 most popular side yard projects and 10 paths and paving ideas for some inspiration.

Let me know what you think and if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob