Excavating and Foundation

• 1). Mark the patio area with stakes and twine. Grade the patio base so it slopes away from any buildings at a rate of 1 inch for every 4 feet. Use any abutting structure as a reference point and place stakes at intervals along the outline of the patio. Grounds Maintenance Magazine recommends running a 2-by-4-inch board from the structure to the nearest stake, check that it's level, mark it at that point then make a mark further down the stake based on the desired slope. Continue this practice down the line of stakes.
  
  
• 2). Excavate the area by digging up the sod. You'll need a depth of at least 5 inches, with 4 inches for a crushed rock base layer and one inch of paver sand. If your soil is clay or otherwise poorly draining, add an additional inch or so for extra crushed rock. Compact the soil with a compactor.
  
  
• 3). Put down a layer of landscape cloth then lay the gravel base. Rake it smooth then compact the gravel with a compactor. It may help to wet the gravel to get it to settle.
  
  
• 4). Lay long 1-inch PVC pipes across the width of the area so it's divided into thirds or quarters, or whatever size sections are manageable to work with. Working one or two sections at a time, pour out the sand and smooth it by running a 2-by-4 perpendicularly to the PVC pipes. Remove the excess and use it in the next section. When you've finished laying the sand, remove the pipes and fill the narrow trenches they leave, smoothing over them with a shovel.
  
  
• 5). Wet the sand with a hose then tamp it with a hand tamper or compactor.
  
  

Setting the Pavers

• 1). Lay the pavers. Fit them together by setting them gently on the sand in the desired pattern. Check each paver with a level and adjust it as necessary: if it's too high, tap it with a rubber mallet, and if it's too low, add some more sand underneath then set it back into place.
  
  
• 2). Install the plastic retaining wall around the perimeter to keep the stones from shifting. It is easily camouflaged and held in place with spikes hammered into place. Cut the edge to bend it around curves and corners.
  
  
• 3). Set pavers with the compactor, working from the perimeter toward the middle of the patio. Pour sand on the patio and, working in sections, sweep it into the joints with a stiff broom.
  
  
• 4). Edge the patio with mulch, plants, shrubbery or other landscaping.