After the base has been prepared (cutting the turf, deepening the site by 20-25 cm, filling it with medium-sized crushed stone at least halfway, and then sand on top with careful compaction of both), you can begin paving.
To do this, you can purchase ready-made paving slabs, which are not cheap, and there are not enough guarantees that they will remain intact after the first winter. But you can try to pour the tiles directly on the site, having the appropriate shape and a ready-made cement mixture.
Any person familiar with at least the basics of construction can handle this work. In principle, physical strength is needed here more than serious professional skills.
Necessary materials, tools and equipment
The materials we need are a ready-made cement mixture for forming concrete tiles, water for mixing the mortar and washed river sand (preferably up to 0.2 mm in size) for filling the seams between the tiles after they have completely hardened.
You also need to prepare the following tools and equipment:
- A spacious container for mixing concrete mortar.
- A set of molds of a certain configuration with a “lid” for forming edges with slopes (it can be purchased at a hardware store or ordered in China. - link to Ali Express).
- An electric drill and a nozzle for mixing the mixture and water.
- Construction trowel for leveling the surface of the mold filled with mortar.
- Waterproof (rubberized) gloves.
- Garden cart for transporting sand.
- A brush for spreading sand over the surface of a paved area.
- Hose with sprayer for moistening sand.
- Shovel to remove excess sand.
Terrace paving sequence
We pour the cement mixture - a 40-kilogram bag - into a mixing container. Add the required amount of water there (about one small bucket). All details of preparing the mixture can be found in the instructions printed on the packaging.
Using a nozzle and a drill as a drive, thoroughly mix the contents of the container for several minutes until a homogeneous mass of medium consistency is obtained.
Then we lay the form in the right place, observing the side gaps with the already cast concrete tiles. Using a level gauge, we check its horizontalness in the longitudinal and transverse directions.
If necessary, we make adjustments to the location of the molding element.
Next, we place the mixed cement mortar into the “windows” of the form, compacting it thoroughly, especially along the edges (you can do it directly with your gloved fingers), with a small “slide”.
Then we “cut off” the excess mortar with smooth oscillatory movements using a construction trowel, flush with the surface of the form, and send it back to the container with concrete mortar.
We rub the mixture in the “windows” of the forming element using the same trowel to obtain a flat and smooth surface.
We place a “lid” on the form and press it firmly against the form so that inclined edges are formed along the boundaries of the concrete tile elements. Beveled edges after hardening make the tile stronger (sharp corners do not break off).
Having made sure that the “lid” has “sat” tightly and evenly over the entire plane of the mold, we hold them together for a while, and then we begin to carefully lift both molding elements, without moving them to the side, but only lifting them evenly upward.
This operation not only strengthens the edges of the tiles, but also squeezes out excess mortar with its ribs inside the mold. But since there is nowhere for the concrete mass to go on top, it is compacted, and the top of the finished tile is absolutely smooth.
After removing the molding kit, we make sure that the newly cast concrete tiles have no defects. And only after that we proceed to the formation of the next tile.
Filling between tile cracks with sand
The easiest and cheapest way is to fill the gaps between completely dried and hardened concrete tiles with construction sand of river origin.
This must be done in stages from one end of the completely paved area. In our case, the portion is the volume of sand placed in the garden cart. Pour the sand approximately along the center line of the site, stepping back some distance from the edge.
We take a long-handled brush in our hands and, starting from two edges, evenly distribute the sand towards the center of the site, carefully filling the seams between the tiles.
Then we bring up a second cart of sand, pour it also along the center line on the border between the backfilled area and the still clean one.We distribute the sand in the same way using a brush from the edges towards the center of the site. And so on until the entire site, and therefore the cracks, are filled with sand.
We check the quality (uniformity and density) of filling the cracks throughout the entire site, correct where necessary with a brush, and remove debris (large pebbles, leaves, grass).
Now we stretch a hose with a sprinkler at the end and from the beginning of the site we begin to wet it abundantly using not very strong water pressure, so as not to wash the sand out of between the tile cracks, but rather compact it there with the help of water.
Let the moisture absorb a little, and the sand compact in the cracks, and begin to sweep it away with a brush from the beginning of filling the sand. In this case, most of the sand remaining on the tiles falls into the cracks, and the collected volume in the end will be no more than 2-3 shovels, which we load into a garden cart.
Some comments and advice
If the paved area is located in the open air, then it is necessary to form a slope so that rain or irrigation water does not accumulate on the tiles of the area. What’s worse, if it gets into the seams between the tiles, it can freeze and ruin the masonry.
Sand for filling joints must be absolutely clean. To be safe, it is better to sift it, otherwise vegetation may appear between the tiles, which, of course, will not contribute to the strength of the paving.
Instead of pure river sand, in some cases it is better to use gartzovka - a mixture of dry sand and cement in some proportion - to fill the joints. Over time, this mix sets and strengthens the tile covering, taking part of the load on itself.
