Patio/Path Edging - Possible Error

[leevis]

This site has been so helpful so far on my continuing patio conundrum

Here is the state of play at the moment. I have a 25ftx12ft base at the bottom end of my garden, half of this is compacted (to a point) MOT Type 1, the other half is concrete.

At the house end is another patio which i intend to lift and replace the slabs with new ones (fingers crossed that the base is still good there!).

Between these two patios i have build a path about 1meter wide and 70 feet long. This path is, again, made of Type 1. I edged this with timber to keep the Type 1 in place (my garden dips a lot so at the house end it is about 1 inch above the grass level and at the back end about 6 inches).

My plan is to lay slabs onto this base/these bases but the question i have is what can i edge this with ?? Should i get rid of the wood and replace with Edging Bricks? or can i lay the slabs onto the Type 1 about an inch short of the wood and THEN do the edges? I am a bit worred about the heights ie i would like the slabs to be flush with the tops of the edging if possible and i can forsee a bit of a nightmare if i do the edging first and it is too low etc.

I intend to raise the levels of the ground once the patios/paths are all completed and then returf the whole lot.

Need some advice on that edging part.

Thanks

Lee

 

[WabbitPoo]

my advice would be to remove the wood, fix some edging bricks or blocks on a good concrete haunch, then lay your slabs on the path. make sure the two runs of edging are set at the same height (well, a small slope to drain water off) and are parallel - will make laying the slabs easy.

 

[leevis]

Thanks Mr Wabbit
One thing of note, this path is against a brick wall on the one side.

If i was to pave it as it is at the moment with slabs, about an inch short of the wood, and on a mortar bed, what are the chances of the slabs staying put??

If i do it that way then once i have done all the slabs, i can remove the wood, remove some of the MOT Type 1 and then cement the edging to in place and backfill where necessary.

I really dont want to remove all of that wood if i am being honest. Will it stay up though, that is the question.

Currently i have:
Brick Wall -> 1m of 2-6inch think MOT Type 1 -> Wood Shuttering -> grass.

Lee

 

[WabbitPoo]

What do you mean by "cementing the edge in place"?

Do you intend to remove the wood or not? your post says both yes and no!

 

[noseall]

lay the path - then edge it!

a slabbed path doesn't need an edge restraint but can be finished with an edging if you wish. this is provided the slabs are laid 'robustly'.

smaller units like paviors, that are laid on sand only, need restraint.

 

[WabbitPoo]

I find it easier to do the edging first, as you can make it follow whatever contours you want. You then lay the slabs level with the edge. Much easier to continually be monitoring levels when you are doing small edging units. Each to their own, I guess.

My main worry would be that if you slab then take away the restraints, might the MoT crumble? Either way, don't leave it un-edged.

 

[leevis]

Nice advice, appreciate it!

I think i might have caused myself the mother of all flip ups here.

Looks like edging is going to be a requirement which is ok as it will finish it all off.

The snag is that i made this path to join both of the patios together and the initial plan was to raise the garden to that level which on thinking about it could be rather costly. 23ft wide by 70ft of topsoil is probably going to cost about £900 ish i think and it might be cheaper to lower the height of the path.

What i intend to do now is remove the Type 1 that i put down (aargh) dig down so that the slabs i will be putting down are flush with the grass which should be about 40ft of the distance. Still a little bit worried about using the edging before i do the slabs though.

How should the edging blocks be fixed? I guess it should be done on a cement bed, any ideas of thickness or even if it is required at all being that the edge will be at grass level?

Lee

 

[WabbitPoo]

Have you seen pavingexpert.com? they have loads of tech details like that. v useful site, so I won't repeat it all here! In a nutshell the edgeing bricks/blocks should be laid on concrete haunching.