Why use herringbone on a narrow side yard walkway?
Because herringbone locks together in both directions, so a long, skinny run stays put. This Ocala home got a paver walkway in two places, and the side yard was the harder of the two. It is a straight shot between a white vinyl privacy fence and the blue siding, ending at the gate.
A running bond pattern would have worked on paper. On a narrow path, though, every paver in a running bond only really leans on the ones beside it along one line, and the whole strip can creep over time when people drag trash cans and mowers across it. Herringbone sets each paver at a right angle to its neighbor. Push on one and several others push back.
We framed the field with a charcoal soldier course on both edges. Those borders do real work. They hold the herringbone cuts tight along the edge and give the grass strips a clean line to grow up against. If you are weighing options for a side yard, our page on patios, driveways and walkways covers the other patterns we lay.
Can a paver walkway connect to an existing concrete driveway?
Yes, and that is exactly what the front of this house needed. The concrete driveway stayed. We built a curved paver landing that starts at the driveway edge and sweeps over to the porch steps.
The trick is where the two materials meet. Concrete is one rigid slab. Pavers are individual units sitting on a compacted base, and they move a little with the ground. So the landing gets its own base. Full depth, compacted in stages, never leaning on the slab. The charcoal border runs along the curve and meets the concrete cleanly, which keeps the joint from looking like a patch.
Walkways only see foot traffic. That changes once cars are involved. If you later decide to replace the concrete, we would take the slab out entirely and rebuild with vehicular rated paver driveways at 2 3/8 inches thick. Pavers should never be laid over an old driveway. We get called out to fix that shortcut more than almost anything else, and it never ends well.
What keeps a paver walkway in Ocala from sinking?
A base that was compacted properly before the first paver went down. That is the whole answer, and it matters more here than in a lot of places.
Marion County soil is mostly sand. Sand does not firm up on its own the way clay does, so a paver walkway in Ocala built on a thin, loose base will settle into dips within a few seasons. On our jobs the base goes in and gets compacted. Then the limestone screenings go down as the bedding layer, and those get compacted too. Only then do we set pavers.
Water is the other half. Heavy summer storms dump a lot of rain fast, and a walkway squeezed between a house and a fence has nowhere obvious to shed it. We grade so the surface carries water away from the foundation instead of holding it. Joints get Gator Maxx G2 polymeric sand, which is the only joint sand we use, because it locks the pavers together and does not wash out in a downpour. More on local conditions is on our pavers in Ocala page.
Is a dark border worth it on a front entry walkway?
Usually, yes. It costs little compared to the rest of the job and it makes the whole thing look finished.
Look at the front landing on this house. The field pavers are a light blend, the siding is blue grey, and the porch trim is white. Without the charcoal edge, the curve would fade into the new sod and the bare soil around it. With it, you see the shape from the street. We used the same border on the side walkway, so both pieces read as one project even though they sit on different sides of the house.
Borders also protect the edge. The soldier course is the first row a mower wheel or a shovel hits, and it takes that abuse better than a row of cut pieces. We did something similar with the border on this tan and grey driveway in Ocala. Want to see border colors against your own siding? Book a free estimate and we will bring samples to the house.
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Need a walkway that connects the driveway, porch and side gate?
Call (352) 651-6077 for a free on site consultation. We will measure both runs and bring border and field samples to hold against your home.