How to lay a block-paved garden path

Video by Proper DIY. This walk-through draws on the video "The Easy Way to Lay Block Paving" from Proper DIY. It is a good, no-fuss overview of the whole process from digging out to the finished surface — particularly useful for getting the screeding stage clear in your head before you start.

1. Mark out the path and calculate materials

Run string lines along both edges of the path before you lift a spade. Keep them taut and check the width is consistent throughout — even a couple of centimetres of variation will be obvious once the blocks are down. Standard garden paths are usually between 600 mm and 900 mm wide; anything narrower than 600 mm starts to feel mean with a wheelbarrow.

To work out how many blocks you need, calculate the area in square metres and add ten percent for cuts and breakages. Most standard concrete block pavers are 200×100×50 mm, so roughly 50 blocks per square metre. It is worth ordering slightly more than you think you need — batch colours vary, and chasing a few matching blocks later is more trouble than it sounds.

2. Excavate and prepare the sub-base

Dig out the path to a total depth of around 150–175 mm below your finished surface level. That allows for a 100 mm sub-base of MOT Type 1 hardcore, a 30 mm sharp sand bed, and the 50 mm block. Dig a little deeper if the soil is soft or clay-heavy — clay soils in this part of Kent can heave and shift, particularly after a wet winter, and a thin base will show that movement in the surface.

Tip the hardcore in and rake it level, then compact it with a plate compactor or a hand tamper. A hired plate compactor makes light work of it; hand-tamping a long path is hard going. Check the base slopes slightly away from any walls or buildings — about 1 in 60 is enough to drain rain water off without being noticeable underfoot.

3. Fix the edge restraints

Edge restraints stop the blocks migrating outward over time, which they will do without something holding them. You can use proprietary plastic edging, concrete haunching, or simply bed a row of blocks on a stiff concrete mix along each side before you lay the field. Whichever you choose, get it absolutely straight and to the correct finished height — the edge is your datum for the whole job.

For a garden path, concrete haunching on both sides is neat and permanent. Mix a fairly dry concrete, trowel it along the edge of the excavation, and bed a line of blocks into it on their flat face. Check they are level with each other and at the right height. Leave it to go off for a day before continuing — if you rush this, you will knock the edges out when compacting the field blocks.

4. Screed the sand bed

Tip sharp sand (not building sand — it is too soft) into the prepared base and rake it roughly level. Cut two lengths of steel tube or timber batten to use as screeding guides, set at the correct height on either side of the path, and drag a straight piece of timber or a short screed board across them to level the sand. The finished sand bed should be consistent at around 30 mm deep.

Do not walk on the screeded sand once it is done, or you will leave footprints that show through in the finished surface. If the path is narrow you can screed and lay as you go, working backwards so you never stand on fresh sand. That said, on a longer path it is usually easier to screed a section, lay into it, then screed the next section.

5. Lay the blocks in your chosen pattern

Start from one end or from a straight edge and work forward. The most common patterns for a garden path are running bond (like brickwork), herringbone at 45 degrees, or a simple stack bond. Herringbone locks together better under foot traffic; running bond is easier to cut for. Whatever you choose, keep checking with a string line that your courses are running straight — blocks that are even slightly out of line will drift noticeably over a few metres.

Tap each block down with a rubber mallet or the handle of a club hammer to bed it into the sand. Keep the joints tight — 2–3 mm is enough. At the edges you will need to cut blocks to fill the gaps; a bolster chisel and club hammer will do small cuts, but a hired block splitter or angle grinder with a diamond blade makes it much quicker and neater. Always wear eye protection when cutting blocks.

6. Compact and fill the joints

Once all the blocks are laid, run a plate compactor over the surface to bed everything into the sand evenly. Use a rubber pad underneath the plate if the blocks have a textured or decorative face — direct metal-on-block contact can damage the surface. Two or three passes in different directions is usually enough to get everything settled and flat.

Spread kiln-dried jointing sand over the finished surface and sweep it diagonally across the joints with a stiff broom, working it in all directions until the gaps are filled. Run the plate compactor over once more to vibrate the sand down, then sweep more sand in and repeat until the joints are consistently full to just below the surface. That is it — block paving is one of those finishes that improves the more you use it, as the joints settle and bed in properly.

When to call a handyman

Ring Richard if the ground conditions are awkward — heavy clay, a slope, or an area with buried pipes or cables nearby that need locating first. Hiring a plate compactor and getting the materials delivered on your own is also the sort of thing that quickly turns a manageable job into a faff. If you want the path done in a day and done right, it is often worth having someone experienced take it on, particularly for anything over about ten square metres.