Paving edging stones12/8/2023 Trim them all by the same amount to make the changes in size less noticeable. If it doesn’t fit, use a diamond-bladed saw or grinder to trim the last four stones in the row. Always end a row with a full-sized stone. Where the edging turns a corner, keep the stone faces tight to one another. Lay out 10 more blocks and repeat the steps. When all 10 blocks are in place, push the concrete 6 inches up their back sides, then trowel it smooth at a 45-degree slope. Bed and even up the remaining stones, one after the other, keeping each one tight against the last. With a rubber mallet, tap the stone’s top flush with the mason’s line. Photo by Kindra Clineff Step-by-Step, continued Now take one block and set it in the concrete, tightly against the pavement and even with the corner. Shovel a few inches of concrete into the trench over a 3-foot stretch at the starting point, then use a trowel to smooth out the mix. It should be relatively stiff so it doesn’t squeeze up between the blocks. In a wheelbarrow, mix up a batch of concrete. Lay out the first 10 blocks along the pavement near your starting point: at a corner or the most conspicuous end. (Roger used a 2-inch exposure for this project.) Check this height along the string and adjust it as needed by adding a stake. Its height above the top edge of the pavement should be no more than half the depth of the stone. Before discarding the asphalt chunks, check whether your town recycles them.ĭrive two stakes at the edge of the driveway, no more than 50 feet apart. (Make sure to wear safety goggles.) Trim the soil beneath the pavement flush with the clean edge. sledgehammer, slice away the asphalt along this line. Snap a chalk line on the pavement, just inside the driveway’s edge. Toss the dirt in a wheelbarrow and dump it on a tarp. If the driveway slopes, start at the top and work downhill. Blend the dry materials first - three shovelfuls of sand to each shovel of cement - then add just enough water to make a good, stiff mix.ĭig a trench 1 foot wide and 8 inches deep along the edge of the driveway. bag of cement and 200 pounds of sand make a 20-foot setting base. For big projects, it’s less expensive to buy bagged cement and a pile of sand. bag of premixed concrete, while convenient to buy, is only enough for a 2-foot-long setting bed. On the following pages, Roger demonstrates how to set it and forget it.Ī 60-lb. If done the right way - with the stones firmly bedded in a thick concrete base for support, and no mortar in the joints, which can become a maintenance headache later on - it will never need any more attention. Setting block edging is a one-person project that can be done in a weekend or two, depending on the length of the driveway. And there are the less tangible benefits: “Stone edging looks good in all four seasons,” says This Old House landscape contractor Roger Cook. When placed side-to-side along the perimeter of the driveway, they add a touch of distinction as they protect vulnerable edges from eroding or being split apart by shoots of grass. The rough-cut rectangles of stone, first carried to these shores as ballast in the bellies of ships, have been used for paving since colonial times. One solution to all three problems? A crisp boundary made of Belgian block. Plus, cars are straying onto the grass, leaving tire tracks where they don’t belong. The driveway’s asphalt edges are crumbling.
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