Tools to Build a Pavestone Sidewalk

Layout and Base Excavation Tools

• Layout and base-preparation tools include measuring and marking implements, digging equipment and equipment for transporting materials. Tape measures, string lines, line levels, stakes and spray paint allow builders to measure and layout the location of a sidewalk. Digging and excavation equipment includes manual tools, such as shovels, picks and wheelbarrows, or power equipment, such as tillers, tractors or excavators. While wheelbarrows suffice for small projects, tractors or loaders might transport excavated soil for large projects. As always, workers wear safety gear when working with power equipment, such as goggles and gloves.

Base-Preparation Tools

• Base-preparation tools include equipment for transporting bulk materials, such as aggregate, cement or sand, compacting tools and screeding tools. Typically, a wheelbarrow and shovel are adequate for transporting bulk materials. Pavestone company recommends a layer of gravel over native soil under some conditions. Alternatively, Pavestone recommends using a power tiller to combine native soil with cement. Installers compact the soil and cement mixture with a power tamper or hand tamper, wet it with a standard garden hose and allow the mixture to harden. The final step of base preparation involves leveling a layer of paver base sand, a process called "screeding." Pavestone company recommends filling the base with sand and running a 2-inch by 4-inch piece of lumber across electrical conduits that function as "rails."

Laying and Cutting Pavers

• Pavestone installers lay individual blocks by hand, tamping and aligning blocks with the handle of a hammer or a rubber mallet. Occasionally, a sidewalk installation requires angled or straight cuts through hammers. The most common cutting tools are a mallet and masonry chisel, a guillotine block splitter and masonry wet saw. While chisels and guillotine block splitters are suitable for small jobs and straight cuts, masonry wet saws quickly and easily create smooth cuts, both straight and angled.

Finishing Tools

• To finish Pavestone products and other pavers, install edging to secure the pavers' perimeter. Usually aluminum or plastic, edging anchors to the ground with landscape spikes and a mallet. Installers usually cut edging with snips or utility knives. Finally, installers use brooms or brushes to distribute paver sand across the installation surface and compact the blocks with a power tamper. Pavestone Company recommends filling and tamping the surface twice.