How long to wait before pavers?

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NYUnderground

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Jun 26, 2011
92
Long Island, NY
Not sure where to post this one figured I would start here.

Finishing our IG pool build next week and need to start planning the paver patios going around the pool area. My question for those of you who have gone through this already is how long to you wait for the ground to settle before starting your paver patios? We are looking at a significant investment in patio costs and I sure don't want it to start buckling two years in. I've received so much different information from the experts ranging from "go ahead and get started immediately" to "wait a year before you start" and Im trying to get some real life advice.

One thing to note is we put in a vinyl liner, concrete walled pool so there was some pretty significant excavation that needed to be done. Not to mention that ridiculously large oak tree stump that needed to be removed which caused them to pull up another 3x10 ft area behind the shallow end wall.

Appreciate any and all assistance.
 
It probably depends on the soil type and how much you had to move and fill.

My guys did my pavers at the same time as the pool. My raised Firepit area is a couple feet of fill dirt. They compacted it with the Jumping Jack and then put in the gravel and sand. Then they compacted the sand with the Vibrating compactor.

If they can install concrete right away and not have that sag/buckle I'd think pavers would be ok. I'm not in any way an expert on the subject.

I assume you will continue to get all sorts of answers :blah:
 
If your dirt is anything like mine (virtual concrete when dry) I'd wait until a couple of rainstorms have soaked things. In the meantime, just lay the pavers as stepping stones to keep feet clean.

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I had my IG, steel-walled, vinyl pool installed last fall and I decided to wait until the spring to lay my paver decking. My soil is predominantly sandy, however, alot of processed gravel was brought in to backfill the areas that were over-dug for the panel shelf. The fill was compacted as much as possible using a large excavator. I, too, received conflicting information on whether it was necessary to wait. I can tell you that when the snow finally melted and I removed the winter cover, that fill had settled a good 4".
 
You will get SOME settling....no way out of it. Just how much depends on the type of soil, how much it was disturbed and a whole list of other factors so it is somewhat unpredictable.

That said, with pavers on sand, the worse case is you remove the pavers and redo the bed if the settling becomes objectionable.

So I guess if it were me I would wait because I would be willing to trade off the unfinished look for only installing them once. Your situation and particular priorities may be different.

Concrete is an entirely different situation.
 
Thank you all for the replies as they are quite helpful in planning my next steps. Were on the North Shore of Long Island which gives us about 2 feel of rich clay topsoil and then nothing but sand underneath. Although the PB tried to keep the two apart, inevitably they get mixed together during the backfill process which leaves us with a pretty unstable mix on top.

We received several quotes for both types of underlayment: 4" concrete slab+pavers at $11-$12/ sq ft and 4" crushed RCA+pavers at $8-$9/ sq ft.

Im thinking either wait 3 months and go with the concrete or wait till the spring and go with the RCA...just need to see how long my patience holds out with artificial grass and dirt everywhere!
 
Better safe than sorry, as they say. I'd agree you're on the right track for 3 months for slab or else Spring. A few months wait is better than years of maybe living with something you'll kick yourself over time and again. I backfilled with RCA and still giving it a month to settle before pouring the deck.
 

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TY for the help guys....one question on bonding. If we go with the pavers on the RCA do we still need to put in a rebar grid to tie in the ground wire running around the pool? Currently they have copper ground tied into 2 pieces of rebar coming off the top of the concrete walls as well as being tied into all the ladder and rail brackets. Does this then need to be tied into a rebar grid within the RCA? Is there an easier way to do this, such as burying some large pieces of rebar into the ground within the RCA for the pavers and tying into that rather than building a grid?
 
We had a big discussion about this in California (ask Spillmar). The County Inspectors changed their collective minds 2 times during my build alone.

Original 'Rule' : 2' wide border of rebar bonding grid under concrete adjacent to the pool
2' wide border of copped mesh/grid under pavers adjacent to the pool

New 'Rule' : a single copper wire of some minimum guage was sufficient under either concrete or pavers. Burried 4" deep around the entire perimeter of the pool (including the raised bond beam at the rear of my pool).

The New Rule was repealed after some big discussion with all the County Inspectors. The fall back to the Original Rule specifications.

My pool was fine, the PB installed the 2' of Rebar under the concrete and the single wire under the Pavers and along the back side of the pool.

Spillmar almost had to purchase 500 LF of copper grid :goodjob:
 
Regardless of what the inspector would allow, I'd recommend a bonding grid that extends 3 feet from the pool wall. If you get any stray current, you will reduce the likelihood of it being noticeable.
 
Check this post for an example of what can happen when there is stray current and no bonding grid.

Stray current is not common, and having the grid won't absolutely assure that no one would feel stray current if there happens to be one, but I feel that it is best to have one.
 
Update: thankfully made the decision to wait. Torrential rain the last two days and we have some areas that have sunk close to a ft around the outside pool walls! Have read many users on this forum who back filled with pea-gravel which is something I did not even think of doing at the time.
 
Yup...I'd wait. LI get's plenty of freeze/thaw cycles over the winter. I'd rather see that excavation work settle over the winter. We did that on our large patio unilock patio 5 years ago with a 4" compacted stone dust base and have no settling...phew. At least pavers can be reset if you do get settling vs. concrete, but is still a pain in the behind.
 
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