Where to purchase small paving stones?

I just finished creating a small, round(ish) lawn and I want to put a brick or paving mowing strip around it. Itâ??s not a big garden and thereâ??s not much space between the lawn and fences so I need small (half brick sized) paving to edge it.

Trouble is Iâ??m struggling to find where I can buy it from. I donâ??t think I can use full sizes brick because the curves are too tight to run it lengthways and to run it around the lawn on the narrow edges would take up too much room.

Iâ??ve tried the usual B&Q, Homebase and Wickes, but thereâ??s very little choice there and nothing suitable.

I think Iâ??ll only need 80-100 stones so somewhere that sold individually would be ideal. Looking for either dark grey or weather red. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

I'd suggest a builders merchants, not B&Q but get a few prices. Also it's a question whether you are going to collect them or what they will charge for delivery.
I purchased and collected these from Travis Perkins, they were a few layers left over on a pallet. I did the border edge of the front and back lawns for I think £18 plus the ready-mix concrete and mortar. They're looking really "bright" as I'd only just laid them, they've darkened down since quite nicely. The colour is a subtle mix of red and grey. My flymo passes smoothly over them, so no "edging" to do.



These are harder to see as I made the lawn dip towards the border.

 

Try your local driveway specialists. They use a hell of a lot of block paving. They may well have some left over from a job and be happy to offload the remainder.

Check your local freecycle paper, local builders merchants and builders themselves. Reclamation yards can be pricey so buyer beware. There is always the dreaded evilbay!

As Doghouse said, make sure you check on any delivery costs before you commit to buy. Stones of any kind are heavy so delivery costs could be high.

Good luck with your project.

Regards

Chopper.

 

Thanks folks. I stopped by a local builders merchant on the way to work this morning. It was a hive of activity at 8am and everyone was friendly. The guy on the till told me to have a look around the yard and said I could get them in small quantities.

After a quick scan around there weren't any half-sized ones but it was interesting to see the shallow depths on the standard paving stones. It definitely getting nearer the mark but I'll try and find another.

I'm a bit concerned about the size of the gaps between the blocks on the tighter curves though. I was kind of hoping I wouldn't have to use mortar (just sand) for the gaps but I may have to. Plus I want gravel on the other sides of it and I wonder it they'll shift away from the turf and onto the gravel.

I did consider halving bricks as Loofah suggested but my worry was as the breaks wouldn't be perfect it'd be harder to level the bricks.

 

I'm surprised you've not been able to find any small pavers, if it's just a small quantity, if you can't find a builder's merchants with them, you might be forced to check out the sheds.


"Look away now if you know how to do this."

In my opinion, I wouldn't "loose lay" anything that small.
With mine, I dug a shallow trench about six inches deep, with a sheer side against the edge of the lawn, then chucked in some bits of broken bricks as hard core and then used damp fine concrete mix in which to bed the pavers. I made them flush with the lawn with each paver half buried in the concrete mix. Then with a straight edge over three or four pavers checked that they were level with each other or followed the rise of the garden. I used a spirit level "crossways" as they needed to be level in this direction even though the line rose slightly towards the back of the garden. I also kept walking away and standing, looking back along the line of bricks to make sure they followed the contour of the lawn. I laid the front and back gardens in an afternoon and pointed up between the bricks the following morning with damp mortar. I also made a slope of mortar over the concrete mix from the border to halfway up the bricks. I later "earthed up" the border to cover the mortar. I can walk along the pavers as I mow without any fear of them moving.

 

Thanks Doghouse. Hopefully I'll be able to find some pavers tomorrow morning and I'll assess the situation depending on what I end up getting.

One more question: What type of sand should be used? The soil is 'clay' type and I've mixed sharp sand in with some of it a few weeks ago. Is sharp sand the one with the finest texture (as in smallest bits of sand)? Will sharp sand mix with mortar (I've read about putting a dry mix of one 3rd motar, two 3rds sand in any gaps and watering).

I understand the sand has to be bone dry to get into the gaps.

Thanks

 

I use sharp sand to make mortar.
If you use a dry sand/cement mix to point up between the pavers, don't water it afterwards.
What happens is the cement leaches away and doesn't bind with the sand.
Just leave it dry, keep off it and over a couple of days it'll "go off."

I always prefer to use a barely wet mix, but I wipe the underside of the pavers first with a damp spounge before laying them to make sure they adhere. Also in this way I don't get any wet cement stains on the surface of the pavers. I tamp them down with the handle end of a lump hammer.

Whatever way you do it, the ground has to be fairly well compacted and I always put down some hardcore first.