Forms for Casting Pavers

Rectangles

• The simplest form for your casting pavers is a rectangle. By making individual pavers into brick-like shapes, you can arrange them into a wide variety of regular, geometric patterns. For a traditional look reminiscent of brickwork, use a "running" pattern. This puts the rectangles in regular rows, each brick within the row laid end-to-end along its shortest face. The position of the bricks in each row shifts slightly from the row underneath, making sure that the fissure between individual bricks doesn't line up across multiple rows. For a more interesting pattern, you could arrange the rectangles into a "basket weave" pattern. This design creates a checkerboard-like effect. Each square of the "checkerboard" is composed of two bricks, laid with their long ends together. Alternating the direction of the bricks among individual squares creates the checkerboard or basket weave design.

Naturalistic Shapes

• Instead of selecting a form that uses rectangles or squares, you can use the same concrete materials to create a footpath that appears to be made of stone. Some forms provide a repeatable shape that breaks down into small, asymmetrical "stones," making the pattern appear less regular and more organic. For an even more "naturalistic" form, you can use real stones to cast a plaster mold of your own design. Line it with plastic before pouring in the concrete for the pavers. By staining the pavers in a natural hue, such as a muted gray, you can emulate the look of interlocking, real stepping stones.

Creative Shapes

• The key to paving stones fitting together is that they must "tesselate," meaning that their various sides can fit together like puzzle pieces over an indefinite expanse. Some of the most popular shapes that fit this criteria are rectangles, squares and combinations of octagons and squares. However, it isn't necessary that shapes be simple in order to qualify. Sometimes relatively complex shapes will also fit the bill. As seen in the drawings of M. C. Escher, the stylized outline of a gecko can also tesselate, prompting mold manufacturers GeckoStone to provide a paver stone in the reptile's shape.