Patio Building: Sand

The next layer for the patio base was a 1 inch layer of sand spread evenly over the gravel.  It was actually really easy.  The trick to getting it perfectly even is to use 2 1-inch pvc pipes as a guide.  We started in the far corner and went across, working in rows away from the house.  Once you lay the sand you can’t walk on it again.

You dump a load of sand between and over the pipes.

Scrape off the excess with a leftover 2x4.  (And if you don’t have a leftover 2x4 lying around, you’re not ready to build a patio.)

Carefully remove the pipes and fill in the divets by hand.  Repeat.

Unfortunately we ran out about 60% of the way through.  The delivery was obviously significantly short because we were very careful with the sand.  We called the supplier we bought everything from, but they wanted to charge us for the additional sand and another full delivery fee!  They were the ones that calculated the amount we needed and delivered it, but they refused to fix their mistake.  Their stance was that it was “impossible” that the wrong amount of sand could have been delivered.  I suggested that maybe the amount was miscalculated, and we’d be happy to pay for the additional sand if they would waive the excessive delivery fee.  They said their calculations for supplies were for “advisory purposes only” and it was our responsibility to make sure they were correct while purchasing.  Worse they then accused us of improper installation - their attitude was “well you can’t prove that it wasn’t your fault, so it’s not ours.”  I told them they were welcome to come over to our house and check our work.  I guess you get what you pay for - Morris Brick was significantly cheaper for the same brand of materials, but they obviously cut corners and lack decent customer service.

We definitely won’t be using them again.  Instead we went to Home Depot for more sand.  For the amount we needed, it was much easier and cheaper to pick up 15 bags of sand on our own to finish the job.