Form in Place Concrete Paver Patio

Intro: Form in Place Concrete Paver Patio

For some time I wanted to create a patio outside of my house but i did not want to spend the money on patio pavers and a Concrete slab just didn't have the look I wanted. While researching online and at my local hardware store, I found Quikrete WalkMakers. This is a form that allows you to cast your concrete pavers right in their final location. While this required a lot of work, the final product and the price were exactly what I was looking for.

STEP 1: Materials & Tools

For this Project you will need the following.

Tools:

• Concrete Mixer or Wheel Barrow for mixing the concrete
• Concrete hand tools (I bought a 4 piece set from Harbor Freight)
• 5 Gallon bucket or another item to help move the concrete from where you mix it over to the forms
• Small Gardening Hand shovel
• Garden Sprayer or Paint Roller to apply the sealer

Materials:

• Quikrete WalkMaker Form
• Concrete Mix (Standard works but you can also use Pro Finish)
  
  • Depending on the style of WalkMaker with slightly vary in how much concrete is needed. The forms are 2' x 2' but the different patterns have different spacing between the blocks. The instructions say that 1-80lb bag of concrete mix will fill the form. I used the country stone form and got about 1.3 forms per 80lb bag.
• Polymeric Sand or Sand/Topping Mix - Polymeric sand is more expensive but comes in more colors, I used the finishing sand as I wanted the grey joints. I used about 250lbs of Finishing Sand on a 10x16 patio.
• Concrete Sealer or Cure & Seal
• Wood to form the outer border of the patio (This is optional and the patio could be flush with the ground)
• Crushed Stone (This is also optional. I used it to help level the ground but the instructions on the forms say you can just remove the grass and place the forms right on the dirt)

STEP 2: Site Prep

The preparation for the site will vary based on each location. The end goal of the site prep is to create a solid flat area with no grass or vegetation slightly larger than your patios final size. A good thing about the WalkMaker is that you don't need the land to be perfectly flat, the forms lay flat over any little bumps and divots so that the concrete will flow to conform to the land while the top will be nice and flat.

In my case, I had to deal with a relatively significant slope. I had to dig down into the slope about 18 inches into one side of the side while actually raising up the land about 6 inches on the far side of the site.

STEP 3: Place, Pour, Lift, Repeat

Now that your site is prepped, its time to start pouring. Place the form in one corner of the patio. Then mix one bag of concrete. When mixing its, follow the directions on the bag but then make it a bit thinner. The key is to get the consistency just thin enough that it is it is easy to trowel the surface flat but thick enough that when you pull the form, it will keep its shape.

After the concrete is mixed, carry it over to the form and pour half of it into the form. Now use the trowel to work the concrete into the form. Then slowly add more concrete and until it is full. Once the form is full, use the trowel to create a nice flat and smooth finish. The finish you see here will be the same finish when its dry. Once you finished smoothing the surface, lift the form carefully straight up.

Now you can place the form directly next to the stones you just created and repeat the process until you have filled your patio area.

NOTE: when you lift the form, there may be a ridge left on each stone from the forms. If this occurs, let it dry for about 5 -10 minutes and then go back to it. Using a trowel (or my set had a tool with a rounded over edge) carefully knock down the edges smooth. I did not do this on some stones and they are now a bit sharp.

STEP 4: Partial Forms

Unless you design the size of your patio around the forms, there is a good chance you will have a row that will not fit the full form. In this case you have a few options.

One option is that you can place the form either on a bare patch of dirt or on cardboard and pour a bunch of pavers off to the side. Once they are dry, you can then place them in the remaining space of your patio just as you would with a regular patio block/stone

The Second option is what I did, you can free form the blocks right in the space. This is easier for the stones as they are more rounded shapes. Take the mixed concrete, use a small shovel or trowel to create a small pile of concrete. Then using the towel, shape the pile to the same height and general size of the other patio blocks/stones.

STEP 5: Joint Sand

After all of the concrete has been drying for over 24 hours, you are now ready to fill all of those little joints between the blocks.

Take a bag of the Topping Sand, open it and dump it out over the stones. Empty one bag at a time. Using a broom, work the sand in between all of the joints. Keep adding sand as needed to fill all of the joints. Once all of the joints are filled, go back over the entire patio with the broom to make sure the sand is not the top of the blocks.

Once the sand all in its proper place, Take a water hose with a garden sprayer on the end and gently wet the entire patio. Be careful to not create puddles of water. After 30 min to 1 hour, repeat the watering of the patio 2 more times.

After watering the sand, make sure to keep the area dry for 24 hours. If there is a risk of rain, cover the patio with plastic.

STEP 6: Sealing and Finishing

After the joint sand is dry, now you can seal the concrete. You have a few options for this. If you want to wait 30 days, you can use a normal Concrete Sealer. If you do not want to wait, you can use a Cure & Seal the very next day. To apply the sealer, follow the directions on the bottle. Again, allow 24 hours for it to dry and cover it if there is risk of rain.

Now that the patio is complete, fix the landscaping around the patio and then Enjoy!

Comments

[m.n.me]

I’ve been working on making a form patio for the last few weeks. I’m on my fourth form. I think I am having a problem because my husband bought Sakcrete and it is not quick drying. The concrete is really rocky and it sticks to the form when I try to remove it. I have used Pam. It is either too wet and then cracks and breaks when I remove the form or it is too dry and it sticks so bad I need a hammer to break it out. I like your idea of free forming it. I will try that tomorrow. Thank you for the tip.

[nochanceinhell3856]

The Free Form worked well for me to fill the gaps. It may be a bit time consuming to do it for an entire patio. I seems strange that the concrete is sticking to the form. I know i made my concrete quiet stiff (as little water as possible) without any sticking issues. its made it a bit tougher to smooth the top surface tho. You may want to try a few more water/concrete possibilities. Make sure the form is clean and maybe try something more aggressive than PAM like Vegetable oil.

[castlebuilder]

Have they stayed intact over the last year?

[nochanceinhell3856]

Its held up great even through the harsh new england winter last year. See the picture i attached. We

[AliciaM10]

How much did the project end up costing all together? I'm am looking to do something like this...and the fact you did it by yourself impresses me!

[nochanceinhell3856]

I completed this a little over a year ago but If I remember it was about $300 for the materials and I got the cement mixer on craigslist for about $150.

[pdoubled]

How many hours did the whole project take?

[nochanceinhell3856]

Leveling the area i did slowly over time so I cant really put a time length to it, but pouring the concrete, adding the grout and sealing it took about 4 days with the following break down:

day 1) 5-6 hours of pouring concrete stones.

day 2) 4-5 hours of pouring concrete stones.

day 3) 2 hours of spreading the finishing sand (what i used for grout) and then misting it with water a few more times throughout the day.

day 4) about an hour just spraying the concrete sealer.

day 1 and 2 could have been done in one day but I did it completely by myself and was exhausted after lifting and pouring about 20 - 80lb bags of concrete each day .

I hope this helps.

[poofrabbit]

Congratulations on being a finalist in the Concrete and
casting contest! Best of luck to you!

[energysaver]

I commend you on your great effort! A very nice looking project. This surely beats calling in the cement truck and dealing with possible unsightly expansion cracks. Now you can brag to all of your friends; "I built that!" ~energysaver

[fluffydragon]

Er, on this step it says "After all of the concrete has been drying for over 24 hours, you are not ready to fill all of those little joints between the blocks." do you mean 'now'?

[nochanceinhell3856]

Ahhhh Opps you are correct I wrote "not" instead of "now"

[slo5oh]

I love the idea behind this but I think I may have a couple improvements:

1) Consider using a color for the tops of the stones, I've seen these DIY pavers done using 2 or 3 different colors and they look remarkable. Very similar to real river rock.

2) The sand to fill the cracks will wash or blow away in winter rains and or windstorms. There is a product similar to concrete that will harden the sand so it will remain in place for years.

3) I could be wrong, but the wooden border appears to to standard 2x4s. Because it's put directly into the dirt I think it will rot fast unless you used pressure treated wood that can withstand ground contact. I'm sure there are others, but redwood and cedar are known to be good.

[nochanceinhell3856]

Thanks for the suggestions.

1) I thought about the coloring and agree it does look really nice when people use the 3 or so colors. To do a single color its easy to mix it right into the concrete when mixing it, but to create the multiple colors you need to go back after it dries and stain the rocks one by one. it was just too much work and I actually like the color that it came out.

2) The finishing sand that I used actually hardens to be just barely softer than the concrete it self. Finishing sand is a sand mixed with cement and just no gravel in it.

3) The wooden borders are pressure treated 2x6's. They should last quiet a few years.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

[craftclarity]

The results are terrific! Looks really nice.

[josephsmythe]

Is there a reason you didn't put rebar in the concrete?

[nochanceinhell3856]

Re-bar (according to the instructions on the WalkMaker forms) is not needed. I believe that this is because it is not a slab. It is a bunch of small paver stones that are only about 2 inches thick. The area between the stones sometimes connects with a little concrete but if that cracks it is not an issue because it is below the joint sand.

If you are worried about the strength, you could use Pro-Finish concrete which uses less gravel and adds fibers to the for extra strength.