2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 22:24
- Tile selection
- Substrate preparation for installation
- Required tools and materials
- The use of penoplex in the arrangement of the base of the garden path
- Tile markings
- Concrete base casting technology
- Laying tiles
- Arrangement of a curb
- Backfill with cement mixture
- Laying garden tiles
- Joint filling
- Surface preparation for use
- Conclusion
If you want to beautifully equip the paths at the summer cottage, then you will need to learn everything about paving slabs and methods of preparing the base. A particularly important factor becomes directly creating the correct cake from sand, gravel before laying the tiles on a dry mortar. By itself, the technology of creating a cake of layers of sand and gravel has proven itself quite well, and all thanks to its strength, beauty and durability.
Today, there are dozens or even hundreds of types of tiles, which allows everyone to choose one that will fully meet all preferences. At first glance, laying concrete tiles may seem like a rather complicated process. But do not be alarmed, everything is not as difficult as it seems. Depending on the volume, this work can be done in just a few days. And for small areas, everything is done independently.
Tile selection
Before starting work, you should pay special attention to the type of tiles. In total, there are two main categories:
- Vibrated tiles.
- Stamped.
For the most part, it is best to give preference to the first option, since it is quite economical in financial terms, and in addition, such material has an attractive appearance.
Also, attention should be paid to the thickness of the material. Different materials should be used depending on where the tracks will be laid out. In particular:
- When laying paths and garden paths, tiles 2 cm thick are suitable.
- When exposed to heavy loads, for example, machines, it is worthwhile to provide thicker tiles. Preferably from 40-45 to 60 millimeters. Note that 4 centimeters will be enough for an ordinary car, but with the possible impact of many tons of vehicles, it is worth protecting yourself from damage by more expensive tiles.
The next factor for selection is the drawing being performed. For the first time, it is worth using a standard tile with bundles. You do not need to take a diamond, brick or paving stone, since the beginner does not have the skill level for such a job. Therefore, you will have to attract specialists
And the last is the color range, which has hundreds of shades. You can choose something for yourself personally. The only difference is cost.
Before making the correct pie for laying paving slabs, depending on the base soil and the purpose of the coating, it is important to determine the technology of work.
Substrate preparation for installation
And gradually we move on to preparing the base for laying the tiles on the mortar. Now, the first thing to do is to investigate the slope of the site to be laid. At the same time, we note that it is imperative that the coating must be provided with a slope of at least a few degrees in order to avoid stagnation of water in the yard.
Required tools and materials
Now let's move on directly to the necessary "weapons" for the work. So, we need:
- Quite a lot of sand, since it is necessary to make a base from it. Its amount will depend directly on the tile area.
- Of course, the tile itself.
- Additionally, you will need to equip the curb.
- Cement for mixing cement mortar.
- For marking, a strong thread is required, as well as metal or wooden pegs.
- You will also need a hammer and a rubber hammer.
- A wheelbarrow for garbage collection and delivery of materials.
- Tamper for base device.
- Building level and rule.
- Buckets, shovel and trowel.
- To cut concrete, you need a special electric tile cutter or grinder.
- Also two steel pipes.
- Broom.
- And the last ingredient will be knee pads, since you will have to work on your knees.
The use of penoplex in the arrangement of the base of the garden path
Perhaps the best substitute for concrete when arranging a sidewalk path is a foam-plastic sheet that makes an additional bridge from freezing of the soil and serves as an outflow of groundwater. This situation can be prevented by using a gravel cake and thermal insulation with extruded polystyrene foam before laying paving slabs. Usually, a lot has been described about arranging a blind area around the house using foam and polystyrene sheets, but this technology is suitable for sidewalk paths and is considered the best option.
The technology of using expanded polystyrene in the arrangement of paths is to draw up the correct cake of layers of dripping.
At the first stage, the soil is leveled with a sand cushion and rammed. Further, the installation of the slabs on the sand is carried out with staggered seams. The thickness of the foam under the sidewalk is usually 5-10 cm, depending on the load and soil composition. Then crushed stone is poured onto the insulation, which serves as a drainage. The next layer is a layer of geotextile (it is possible to replace the geotextile with a fine fraction of crushed stone).
When arranging a walkway, it is important to set the curbstone straight, observing proportional dimensions.
For immobility of the tile, it is better to use a dry mixture of sand and cement in a ratio of 1 * 4, this will allow the tiles to be firmly fixed. On this composition, we begin to lay the paving slabs, leveling them. Ideally, when carrying out work, use a vibrating plate.
Then rub a dry mixture of sand and cement into the cracks of the surface to increase the waterproofness of the path and fix the tiles.
Tile markings
To create a slope, we take the street level as a basis, this will become the starting point, namely the zero level, which must be guided by. We mark a straight line in relation to which the slope will be made. We drive in pegs along the edges of this line and pull the thread between them. The thread itself must be strictly horizontal, which is checked by the level (it is best to apply it from below).
The next step, we tie a thread to one of the pegs, and pull it perpendicular to the first mark. At the same time, the second end of the thread should also be fixed on pegs, while in such a way that its level is slightly higher than the first end. Those. the thread will be at a slight incline of a few degrees.
Next, we pull the next one, the tension is parallel to the first thread. It should be strictly horizontal. And the last step is to connect the first and last pegs, thus getting a closed contour in the form of a square or rectangle.
Concrete base casting technology
First you need to remove the soil a little. The depth of a small pit will be 20-25 centimeters. After its arrangement, it is necessary to thoroughly clean the surface of debris, then fill it with rubble by 10-15 centimeters, and, depending on the required slope, tamp it.
And finally, you can proceed directly to pouring the base, for which a solution of crushed stone, cement and sand in a ratio of 2: 1: 3 will be used.
First of all, we build the formwork, the height of which should slightly exceed the concrete layer. In addition, the thickness of the boards must be more than 4 centimeters, otherwise the structure will not hold the concrete pressure.
We put the reinforcement mesh on the crushed stone and start pouring. Initially, a layer of 5 centimeters is poured, after which an additional mesh is laid and the remaining 10 centimeters are poured.
Three days later, after the mortar has dried, the tiles are laid on the concrete base.
Laying tiles
The base is ready and the tiles can now be tiled onto the concrete. And then we will consider a step-by-step algorithm for carrying out work on this issue. In total, the process itself will be divided into several parts, including:
- Arrangement of a curb.
- Backfilling of the site with a cement-sand mixture.
- Directly laying tiles on a concrete base.
- Joint filling.
- And the last stage is preparation for operation.
Let's get down to business and consider each of the stages in more detail.
Arrangement of a curb
The first thing to do is to install curbs to fix the paving slabs and prevent its displacement.
To install the curb, it is necessary to perform the markup, the one that was made for pouring concrete is also quite suitable. The threads in this case are located at the height of the future curb. It is important not to forget about the bias.
A trench is dug along the completed marking, which in its depth fully corresponds to the part of the curb that will be located underground, plus 3 to 5 centimeters are added for the cement pad. For example, if you plan to make a fence with a height of 15 centimeters, and a material with a height of 25 centimeters is used at the base, then the approximate depth of the trench will be 13-15 cm.
The width should correspond to the dimensions of the stone, taking into account a gap of 1 cm on each side. Accordingly, with a stone width of 8 centimeters, the trench should be 10 cm in size.
Now we knead the cement mortar and spread it in a layer of 3-5 cm on the bottom of the trench, after which the curb itself is laid.
It is important that the stones must be driven into the layer of cement mortar, for which a rubber hammer is used.
After a day, the distance between the walls and the border of the trench is filled with sand. In this case, it is necessary to moisten it and tamp it.
Backfill with cement mixture
The next step is to fill the mixture, for which it is necessary to divide the marked area into separate lines (stripes). Their width should correspond to the length of the selected rule (in particular, 20-30 centimeters narrower than it itself).
Further, from the zero mark we retreat the selected distance, while hammering in the peg. We also do, on the other hand. These pegs must be connected together. The height of the thread must be aligned in accordance with the sides parallel to which it is stretched. Thus, the division of the entire area is performed.
Now you need to fill up the base. As you know, usually the laying of paving slabs on concrete is carried out using a dry cement-sand mixture. This contains one part of cement and six sand, without adding water.
Backfilling is carried out over the entire site with a layer of 6-7 centimeters. In this case, alignment and tamping becomes a mandatory factor.
And the final stage of preparation of the base is its alignment in accordance with the markings. Thus, in places where the distance from the thread to the harness is too large, it is necessary to add mixtures. In the same areas where the thread is too low, it should be removed a little. Note that the gap should be approximately 1.5-2 times the thickness of the selected tile.
And a particularly important factor is the ramming of the harness in those places where it is poured. For this, a special device is used - a rammer. An example can be seen in the photo below.
In some cases, instead of this kind of mixture, clean sand is used, but it is less effective, since it fixes the tiles much worse. Unlike a cement base, which, when absorbing moisture, adheres well enough to both the concrete surface and the tiles. Accordingly, the use of clean sand makes it much easier to replace broken tiles or repair surfaces.
In the case when it comes to laying in a place where heavy equipment is accumulated, then even the decision to use a plow does not help, but in this case, a cement screed or special glue for paving slabs comes to the rescue.
Using this kind of solution allows you to maximize the durability of the tiles, but the pitfall is that this kind of coating cannot be repaired. Thus, even if several tiles are broken, they will have to be removed with a perforator, respectively, they cannot be re-laid.
Laying garden tiles
The next step is how to lay the tiles on the concrete base. And everything is done quite simply. The tile is laid on the sub-base and rammed into it with a rubber hammer. Accordingly, it is necessary at the same time to fully control its horizontality and correct position, which is done using a bypass, a level and a stretched thread.
The technology of laying concrete tiles implies a gradual advancement and laying directly from itself. Thus, you will be moving along the freshly laid surface. In the event that you come across obstacles on the way that cannot be eliminated, go around them with whole tiles.
Refinement and pruning will be carried out upon completion of work at the finishing phase. Note that it is always needed. Cases when the track is so perfect that everything will be nested on it in whole pieces are a great rarity.
Directly the pruning itself is done using a grinder or circular.
Important! At the end of the work, it is necessary to moisten the surface, since the dry mixture will not be able to hold the tiles well enough, therefore, it is necessary to ensure the setting of the cement. Thus, it is not so difficult to lay tiles on cement.
Joint filling
Upon completion of the work, the joints are also filled with a cement-sand mixture. Moreover, this is done in several stages, in particular:
- Backfilling and moistening, as a result of which the mixture shrinks.
- Re-filling and moisturizing.
- And so until shrinkage stops occurring.
Surface preparation for use
The coating itself dries up within a few days, in particular, after 3-4 days the paving will be completely dry. At the end of this period, it is cleaned and prepared for operation. In particular, all debris is removed, and, preferably, washed with a clean squeak to eliminate the appearance of white marks from the cement. Then, if necessary, wash the surface under strong pressure.
Conclusion
And finally, we can say that for maximum durability of the coating, it is enough just to harvest on time, to eradicate weeds that break through around the perimeter. It also becomes important which solution to put the tiles on, and here, following the recommendations of professionals, you can take a special mixture directly, instead of laying it on a grinder. But is it worth it? Most likely not, therefore, follow the instructions, lay tiles at home and enjoy the beauty and comfort of your yard.
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