My wife and I are considering a DIY extension to our existing patio. It is currently just a slab off the back of the house that is covered. Probably about 8'x8' or so. We're thinking about stretching it along the house another 15 feet or so to give us more usable space (ideally, for a table & chairs).

From looking around, I think I like some of the interlocking pavers out there and the steps seem pretty straight forward - move any sprinkler heads, dig out the area, gravel, sand, pavers, fill in with sand (leveling & packing along the way), etc.

Is this relatively easy if you're a DIY newbie? We'll make sure and go slow and do things the right way, but it seems that it is more time/patience based than necessarily requiring any particular skill level.

Am I crazy for assuming we can do this over the course of a few weekends for $1,000 or under? Total size would probably be in the neighborhood of 15x8 with a somewhat rounded end where it meets the house (if it isn't too difficult).

I've seen some professional sites where they showed patios that were a bit larger, but not really way more complex and said that a paver porch typically runs $5,000-10,000. It mentioned that per sqft pricing is flawed, but conversationally threw out $16-25 per square foot which seems insanely high to me. I'm guessing they just have been designs and use higher quality products than I may wish to use?

Thoughts?

Here is an idea of what we're after from a quick google image search. Ours won't need a support beam and will be longer, but less wide.

Easy enough. There a tons of online resources for how to lay pavers. The good thing is, if you do it wrong, nothing is permanent. Make sure you slope away from the house, identify any utilities in the area and start with a good, consolidated foundation.

overlooked this thread and posted this on a new thread

Thinking about extending my back porch by laying some pavers. I plan to dig up the grass and lay down some sand but I have been reading to dig out 10 inches and lay gravel, top soil,then sand. Honestly, is all this really necessary or will I be ok digging a couple of inches and putting some top soil then sand and laying my pavers?

Kev - the answer is it depends.

If you have a solid or rocky soil, you would probably be OK with just a bit of foundation work. If you have crap soil or clay, you want to establish a solid foundation to keep your pavers from moving too much. Just sand on top of crap may be OK, but more than likely your pavers will shift and move to create gaps and lips that don't look good and will cause tripping hazards.

The sub grade prep and foundation of the pavers is everything. Look up ICPI for pavers and there is an installation guide. I install a lot of pavers and recommend a road base foundation regardless of soil type. The cost will vary according to your paver selection. Home Depot and Lowes sell first generation pavers and are the lowest cost. Places like custom stone have a wider selection, but tend to be more expensive. It's not rocket science, but can be labor intensive.

[This message has been edited by smokedog (edited 4/1/2014 10:17p).]

I wouldnt use a rounded edge as shown above, unless you want to do a lot of cutting.

I had paver decking installed around my pool, and they ran some sort of walk-behind mechanical vibrator over the pavers to set them. Not sure if that is something you can rent.

They also set exterior/outer row of pavers in concrete to "lock" everything in place.

Also of note, we initially did not have gutters at the rear of our house in the area of the pavers, so after the first big rain, all of the sand washed out around the roof line. So, I had gutters installed, and now need to have some of the pavers taken up to tie downspouts in to underground drainage system.

Yeah - I think our intention is going to be mostly rectangular, but with a bit of a curve at the one corner that will be in the yard. I'm going to avoid too much (a) to avoid having to make a ton of cuts and (b) to give us more usable surface.

JBL brings up good points. Gutters help keep sand from coming out of the joints. You want to make sure you use concrete sand for your leveling bed and you can use it for your joint sand as well. They also make a product called polymeric sand that you can use in the joints and is much more durable and less likely to wash out of the joints.

We're looking at doing the same thing although ours is going to be about 400 sq ft.

I found that with an area that big it was best to do it right and have someone else do it...Then I got estimates. Now we're trying to decide if it's worth it.

One other question I have -

Our neighborhood is your typical suburban, first home neighborhood - pretty small lots, close together, etc.

Unfortunately, with a driveway in front and only a small gate in back, there is no way to get a truck into our backyard to actually drop gravel anywhere close to the project site.

Is my best bet to put down a tarp (or get something like a load handler - http://www.loadhandler.com/) and then go from driveway to backyard with a wheel barrow?

We need probably around 1.75 cubic yards of gravel and probably about .5 cubic yards of sand so it is big enough to be a pain, but not completely unmanageable. Enough to be way too expensive to do bags, IMO.

Thoughts?

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I found that with an area that big it was best to do it right and have someone else do it...Then I got estimates. Now we're trying to decide if it's worth it.

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Roll your sleeves up and do it yourself. It will not be that difficult.

and for 400 square feet it might be cheaper to pour concrete than lay pavers

has anybody ever used a gloss on their pavers? Does it work well and make it look better then the dull/matte color?
something like this http://www2.dupont.com/Paver_Armor_Pro/en_US/products/color_enriching_sealers/premium_high_gloss.html