If you haven’t installed a paver patio or used pavers for other projects, you may wonder about cementing them in place. One of the advantages of paver patios, after all, is that you can easily remove damaged pavers and replace them. That’s not easily done if you use cement. While you can certainly use cement with your pavers, it’s not always the best option. Let’s take a look at some of the times when using cement with your pavers is ideal.
Cement Pavers in Over Tree Roots
When tree roots grow up under your pavers, they can cause the earth to shift. This will make your once-level paver patio uneven, creating a tripping hazard and making the space not look at good as it once did. Setting your pavers with cement will help keep this damage to a minimum. You don’t necessarily have to cement the entire paver patio, either. However, you will want to cement in any pavers you believe are over large tree roots. If you wait until you see them shift, you may have to try to actually remove the roots first. This could kill your tree.
Create a Concrete Lip
Another area you may want to use concrete in is the exterior edge of your patio. Pavers can shift outwards over time. There are a few things you can do to combat this. You can put in some form of edging that is cemented in place, or you can cement in the outer row of pavers. This will ensure that your patio doesn’t slowly spread out over time. You can always expand your patio outward if you decide you want to. Shrinking it, removing it completely, or changing up the pavers will require you to remove the concrete, though.
Using Cement Is a More Detailed Project
Putting down pavers and using polymeric sand to hold them in place is fairly simple, but when you use cement, the project becomes a little larger. You do need to dig your patio base deeper if you plan on putting a layer of cement under the pavers as well as in between them. Laying and cementing the pavers in place will also take more time. There’s also the additional cost of the concrete. Keep all of this in mind when deciding if you want to cement in each paver.
If you have any questions about laying pavers or cementing them, the experts here at Island Block and Masonry Supply can help. Contact us today for any help.
