How to Make a Front Path With Pavers

Outline the area for your walkway on the ground with spray paint, then draw another line a few inches outside that one. Dig out the area within the outer line. It should get dug out to depth equal to the thickness of a paver plus five inches. Digging it out wider than the actual walkway will give space to build up a strong base and install edging.

Multiply the length of your walkway by its width to calculate its area. Add ten percent to this figure. This will be how much paver area you will need for your project, allowing for error, curves and cuts.

Slope the bed of the path away from the house. This will ensure that the pavers don't channel rain into the basement. To do this, hammer wooden stakes into the ground around the edges of your planned walkway, then tie strings around the stakes at the finished height for the pavers. You can hammer the stakes down at one end to give them a slope. Set a bubble level with degree markings on the strings to check the slope; 1 degree is ample for drainage.

Add 4 inches of gravel to the bottom of the excavated area. Do this in two 2-inch layers, compacting the gravel after each one using a gas-powered plate compactor. This will settle and stabilize the base.

Lay down an inch of coarse sand on top of the packed gravel. This sand is what the pavers will sit on and needs to be even and level.

Level the sand by laying down two 1-inch diameter metal bars parallel to each other beneath the strings marking the paver height. Use a spare paver to check that the bars are exactly one paver thickness down from the lines, adding sand if necessary to get them there. Once the bars are in place, drag a flat board across the sand with its ends resting on the boards to level the sand out.

Lay down plastic edging along the perimeter of your walkway, hammering it into place with metal spikes. The edging will hold the edges of the pavers in and prevent them from shifting under pressure.

Lay down your pavers in your chosen pattern. It is easiest to start from one corner and work backward so as to not need to step on the prepared sand.

Cut any pavers you need to to fill holes in your pattern or make curves. To do this you will need a quick-cut saw with a diamond blade. Always wear goggles and gloves when cutting pavers.

Sweep polymeric sweeping sand into the joints between pavers until they're about half full, then run the compactor across them. Sweep more sand in to fill the joints, then compact them again and sweep the whole walkway clean.

Spray the walkway with a fine mist of water from a garden hose. This will activate the adhesives in the sand and lock the pavers in place, completing your front path.