I have concrete sidewalk going from my driveway to my house. The soil and mulch beds on both sides of it are higher than the sidewalk. You also have to step down a few inches from the driveway when going to the sidewalk.
I’d like to replace it with concrete pavers. Can I just cut the sidewalk (one huge L shaped piece of concrete), re-level it, and then put stone dust (or sand) and pavers over it? In essence, can the concrete be my “base” layer?
The reason why I’m asking is that I don’t really have a place to dump the concrete anywhere. It would be quite a hardship for me to take the concrete to a local dump site (I only have a little Honda Civic.)
Replies
I don't know the answer to your question, though I would think it is just like tiling. But have you checked the local newpapers under "hauling" etc? Around here there are people who will drop off a trailer or dumpster that you can put concrete in. In case you do end up having to tear out the concrete.
Standard installation details will cover the installation of pavers directly over concrete, assuming that your concrete is solid and not particularly settled or cracked. You should check out installation details on the web. Here's one from http://www.paverlock.com:
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It is not only possible but I think it is preferable. Before I did my front walk I removed the old concrete and slate and repoured a new concrete walk allowing for the height of the pavers. I set the edge pavers in concrete and filled in the field with the pavers and swept sand to lock them in place. The reason for this is that every installation I have ever seen over crushed stone settles after 10 years or so. I know this may start a heated discussion but this has been my experience. I did my walk about 10 years ago and there has been no movement at all. My brother in law did a walk and steps about 2 years before me and his now looks like the atlantic ocean. The pavers are all settled and none are even. He now must remove them and reset them or redo the whole area. I prefer to do it once and not have to worry about it ever again. Even the salesman at the mason yard said placing concrete is the best job but it adds alot to the cost. Since it was slave labor (ME) the additional labor did not count. I would leave the concrete in place and install the pavers in a thin bed of sand right over it.