Cut 2" thick patio pavers

[redharley]

Putting in a small patio for the wife,we have all straight sided paver's and one of the finshed edge's will have some curve to it,what is the best way to cut these rounded edge's for a novice. Thanks for your input

[EddieWalker]

When I first started doing pavers, I rented a wet saw designed for bricks. It has a table on it that slides under the saw blade, and it cuts them super fast and clean. For the rental fee, it's a very nice tool to have for the day. For smaller jobs when I didn't want to rent a wet saw, I use a diamond blade in my 7 1/4 inch circular saw. It's dusty, but the diamond blade cuts them pretty easily. The real trick is holding them in place while making odd cuts. Now I also have a 14 inch metal cut off saw that I put a diamond blade in when doing allot of pavers. Renting a wet saw would be nicer, but the cut off saw is paid for and it does a nice job. The only drawback is that it's dusty and you have to be careful on some of those odd cuts.

Eddie

[Duffster]

[ultrarunner]

Originally Posted by redharley

Putting in a small patio for the wife,we have all straight sided paver's and one of the finshed edge's will have some curve to it,what is the best way to cut these rounded edge's for a novice. Thanks for your input

Can you run the edge course perpendicular and follow the curve and make you angle cuts in the field to help conceal the edges...

I think it looks nice when the border pavers are uniform...

[Builder]

Originally Posted by redharley

Putting in a small patio for the wife,we have all straight sided paver's and one of the finshed edge's will have some curve to it,what is the best way to cut these rounded edge's for a novice. Thanks for your input

For small jobs, I like a mini grinder with a diamond cutter wheel. You can buy a nice mini grinder for under $75. Diamond wheel is ~$20. You can also buy masonry abrasive wheels for ~$3 each to round off the edges.

You can cut part way through the paver with the diamond cutoff wheel then take a brick hammer and tap the waste side and it'll just break off.

[JB4310]

How tight a bend are you planing? you would not cut a curve in the outside edge of the brick you would normally just relief cut the inside corners as you made a radius.

On my own front walk I have a tight turn, I did the border with the bricks on edge then ran the inside courses straight into the curve and just cut the corners to keep a tighter joint. the bricks don't change direction with the bend. That only works with a short walk, it wouldn't with a long walk. It would work with a curved edge of a patio though, since all the bricks would normally be going in one direction.

I've only done a couple of small paver jobs but I can't imagine a situation where you needed to cut a curve in the brick unless you need a super tight bull-nose corner.

If you do have to, as suggested, the smaller diameter diamond blade would be best.

[Charlesaf3]

tile wet saw. Cuts bricks just fine. Doesn't even cost that much, I bought a knockoff at home depot eons ago and have gotten a lot of good use on it. Little pumps go pretty frequently but they are cheap.

I've done some brick designs with them - compass roses and the like, and its worked like a champ.

Grinder... I dunno. I'd rather get good with a brick hammer, much faster, equally likely to blow the bricks apart. Brick hammer isn't that tough to get ok at, though its pretty impressive to watch someone talented do it.

[jenkinsph]

Just completed a brick paver patio last weekend for one of my customers will take some pictures tomorrow.

I use a small cheap wet tile saw works great and is easy to setup and use ($110).

What I find is more important is to take the time to do a good job grading and packing before you ever lay the first brick.

[Egon]

Angle grinder with the concrete blade will also work.

[Builder]

Originally Posted by jenkinsph

Just completed a brick paver patio last weekend for one of my customers will take some pictures tomorrow.

I use a small cheap wet tile saw works great and is easy to setup and use ($110).

What I find is more important is to take the time to do a good job grading and packing before you ever lay the first brick.

That's right. Proper preparation is 95% of the key to a good outcome.