Any home can look better when you add a nice walkway leading up to it. Luckily, just about anyone can do it on their own and it doesn’t take much time. We recommend allowing around two to three days to complete your walkway, so it can be accomplished on a weekend. If you need to break it up, you can dig on a Friday evening so that the next two days are free for the whole installation process.
You’re going to need some tools and materials before you get started. They include:
- shovels
- strings and posts
- landscaping nails
- ledger boards
- plastic guides
- rock dust
- gravel
- wetsaw or paver splitter
- numerous 2 x 4’s
- your pavers
- a level
Most if not all of these items are available at any hardware store. A wetsaw is pretty expensive, but you can rent one. If this doesn’t appeal to you, a paver splitter will usually be able to get the job done for you and they are a lot cheaper. If you are using a splitter, you’ll need to add a hammer and chisel to your material list.
Ok - let’s get started. First, you’re going to want to measure out your walkway. Keep in mind the size of your pavers and allow at least two extra inches on the sides for your filler. You’re going to want to dig out a path that is around one foot deep for the entire length of the path. Now, grab those strings and posts, and place them alongside this path. Put the strings at level with the ground above your new path. This will be your guide as to how high your finished path will be. You don’t want it too high or you’ll end up tripping over your own walkway.
Take that gravel and fill in the pathway completely with about ¾ of an inch of gravel. Once you’re done, tamp it down securely. Now, take that rock dust (sand works too) and fill in the entire path to a depth of about 2 inches. Tamp this down again. Take your ledger boards and lay them out along the sides of your path. Place your 2 x 4’s over these so that you have a wooden plankway. This provides a solid surface for your pavers.
Use those plastic guides on the outer edges of your walkway to mark off the edges. This gives it a nice finished look that is very even. You’re now ready to add your pavers. Put them in following the pattern of your choice. Make sure they are arranged properly. In most cases, you’ll need to cut a paver. Use the wetsaw or splitter to get this done and finish the walkway.
Now, add in rock dust along the sides to build everything up until it is level. Tamp it down. Spread out the rest of the dust on the pavers and sweep it into the cracks. You should do this a couple of times until everything is packed firmly in. This helps reduce the risk of weeds between your pavers and makes the surface a lot safer. You can add some grass seed along the edges to give it a more finished look.
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