How to Install a Paving Stone Patio

Draw an outline of your patio shape on the ground with spray paint.

Dig below ground with a shovel until you are 6 inches below the house, starting next to the house. Drive a stake into the ground at this point and attach a string to the stake to mark the 6-inch point. Hammer the stake into the ground with a rubber mallet. Measure from the bottom of another stake 8 inches up and attach another string. Drive the stake 2 inches below ground on another corner of the patio. Check the string with a level.

Dig out the rest of the patio, using the string as a guide for the depth.

Compact the ground with a vibratory plate compactor. Move the machine back and forth across the space until you have a firmly compacted foundation.

Roll out flex edging inside the trench you have created, to hold the outline of the patio. Drive metal stakes through the holes in the edging to keep it from shifting.

Fill the space with 3 inches of gravel, spreading it evenly. Screed, or smooth out, the top with a long piece of PVC pipe so it is level. Hold the PVC pipe across the top of the gravel and drag it evenly to level the ground at the same height.

Shovel 1 inch of sand into the patio space. Screed the sand until it is level.

Start at one corner of the patio. Begin setting bricks into the sand. Tap the bricks into place with a rubber mallet. In areas where you need partial bricks, leave an empty space.

Position a whole brick over the empty spaces. Mark the brick where it needs to be cut with chalk. Run the brick through the wet saw. Tap the brick into place with the rubber mallet. Repeat with any other bricks that need to be cut.

Shovel sand onto the top of the patio. Sweep the sand across the bricks to work it into the spaces between the bricks.