Project guide
Base and bedding for pavers around a pool, and which stone is safe to walk on barefoot.
A pool deck has two competing jobs: it must be firm enough that pavers do not settle, and comfortable enough that people walk on it with no shoes. That rules out most of the gravel aisle, and it is why the layer you see and the layer you do not are different materials.
Four inches of road base limerock compacted, then one inch of paver sand as the bedding course. For a loose-stone deck instead of pavers, pea rock is the only sensible choice because it is rounded and smooth. For a pre-blended base, sand and pea rock mixed saves mixing on site.
For a 16 by 20 ft deck: base is 16 x 20 x 0.333 / 27 = 3.95 cu yd plus 20 percent, so order 5. Bedding sand at 1 inch is 0.99 cu yd plus 20 percent, so order 2. Both part loads.
Excavate six inches below finished paver height. Compact the base in two lifts, watering each. Screed the bedding sand flat to exactly one inch using pipe rails; do not compact it before laying. Set the pavers, then sweep paver sand into the joints and run a plate compactor with a rubber mat over the top. Slope everything away from the pool at a quarter inch per foot.
Materials for this job
Compactable base under asphalt, concrete, pavers and driveways.
$31.25 / cu yd MaterialBedding and joint sand for interlocking pavers and brick.
$31.25 / cu yd MaterialPool decks, walkways, paver base, dog runs and landscape fill.
$37.50 / cu yd MaterialPre-blended base for pavers and pool decks. No mixing on site.
$31.25 / cu ydPool Deck — common questions
Four inches of compacted limerock base, then one inch of screeded paver sand as the bedding course. The base carries the load, the sand lets you level individual pavers.
Pea rock. It is rounded river stone with no sharp edges, which is the only kind anyone will walk on barefoot. Crushed stone like #57 is too angular.
Light-coloured pea rock stays noticeably cooler than dark pavers or asphalt, but any surface in direct Florida sun gets hot. Shade matters more than material.
A quarter inch per foot away from the water. Less and it puddles, more and furniture rocks.
Pick your material, enter how many cubic yards and see the delivered number before you talk to anyone.