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Edge restraint is installed just before the jointing compound for your project is. It is meant to remain in a constant position, helping to prevent the lateral movement of the pavers caused by the traffic above or freeze-thaw cycles.
Learn more about edge restraint with this article:
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Edge restraint is installed wherever there is a soft material against the edge of a paving surface. Where the paving surface runs against a hard surface like a wall, building structure, curbing, it is not needed.
Edge restraint holds an important role in the interlocking pavement, but if the prior steps to installation are not followed, failure of the paver project is likely. This includes the extension of the base material past the final paver at the same measurement as the depth of the base. That means if you are installing a paver patio that has a base depth of 6 inches, then your base will need to extend past the final paver by 6 inches. This provides a solid platform to stabilize your pavers so that they do not slide off of the base.
For most residential projects, edge restraints will either be a plastic edge, concrete edge, or some sort of mortared or reinforced curbing stone.
Plastic edge restraint strips that can also be found as aluminum with various low to high profiles can be used with non-galvanized spikes. These strips are installed directly on top of the base material retaining the 1 inch bedding layer and the pavers. To do this, the bedding material needs to be scraped back or the edge restraint needs to be worked into the bedding material.
Plastic edge restraint cannot be used with a permeable or open graded base where the aggregate has no fines in it. This is because the non-galvanized spikes are designed to rust in the dense graded base of a traditional install, holding onto the fines of the material and preventing the heaving of the edge restraint. These spikes are hammered into the edge restraint every 12 inches or every 6 inchs on rounded projects. The heads of the spikes are meant to rest approximately ¼” above the hole. If your project has rounded areas, the back of the edge restraint can be cut to allow the strips to bend and curve as needed.
It is important when choosing your plastic edge restraint that you find a product with the plastic buttresses connecting the spike holes to the vertical retainer providing the lateral strength to the edge restraint strip.
Still it is easy to find projects where these plastic edge restraint strips are heaving above the pavers creating an unsightly project. For this reason, we have moved to concrete edge restraints in our business.
The only time we now use a plastic edge is when installing on a synthetic base where the plastic edge restraint is fastened directly to the paver base panels creating one system and preventing the chance for the edge restraint to heave above the pavers.
There are edge restraint strips that are designed for permeable or open graded bases with wedge-shaped anchors instead of these non-galvanized spikes. However, for this application we use a concrete edge restraint that is reinforced with fibers.
There are a few products available that come with their formulas of concrete mixture and fibers where you just need to add water, mix, and install. The fibers allow the edge to remain intact even if it cracks under pressure from freeze-thaw cycles or the movement of the pavers from the traffic. After mixing the material, you will use a trowel to scrape back the bedding layer. Doing this will cause some of the bedding layer to be undermined below the pavers on the edge. The concrete edge restraint is then installed to replace that bedding material under the paver while being installed directly on top of the base material and tapering up approximately half an inch up the paver, retaining the bedding layer and the pavers. This concrete adheres to the base material and the pavers, creating a strong edge restraint for residential applications. It is especially useful for a project like this where we are using it for a live edge or 1” thick material like square cut flagstone or porcelain.
After the installation of the plastic edge restraint or concrete edge restraint, you can then move on to the final step of the paver installation which is installing the jointing compound.
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