3 Ways Hiring A Mini Bobcat Can Make Building Your New Paved Patio A Breeze

10 August 2017
 Categories: , Blog

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Creating a new garden patio area using large paving stones is a great DIY project for the home gardener. Unlike concrete or timber patios which require professional tradespeople, a paving stone patio is easy to do yourself, even if you haven't ever done it before. The key to creating an attractive and professional looking paving stone patio is making sure that you prepare the location correctly.

Preparing a site to lay down your large pavers isn't tricky but if you're doing by hand, then it can be back breaking and time-consuming work. You can save yourself a lot of sweat and muscle aches by opting for a bobcat hire for a weekend. These small earth moving machines will make your patio site preparation a breeze. Here are three tasks that you'll be able to use your mini bobcat for when building your new patio.

1. Site levelling

One of the most important preparation tasks you'll need to complete before laying your patio pavers is to create a level space to lay them on. Even a slight gradient or small areas that have dips or lumps will leave you with a patio that looks wonky and amateurish.

A mini bobcat will help you to finish this task in no time at all. It can dig out large volumes of soils and redistribute them over the site surface. Once you've done the majority of the levelling, it can then act as a large, mechanical rake and compactor. The bucket can be used to skim over the surface to create a smooth, level and sturdy base for your new patio.

2. Adding a gravel layer

The next step in the site preparation is adding a layer of gravel. The gravel acts as a buffer between the pavers and the dirt and also provides good drainage to keep your patio from becoming waterlogged during wet weather.

Your mini bobcat can make short work of this task. Gravel can be moved quickly and easily from the delivery site to the patio area. It can then be used to spread the gravel over the area into an even and well-compacted layer.

3. Laying the pavers

As well as helping to prepare the site, the mini bobcat is invaluable during the laying of the pavers. Large pavers are heavy and carrying them one by one from the delivery site is an arduous task by hand but can be done in minutes with a bobcat. You can also use it to move the fine gravel or sand that you'll need to spread over the pavers once they're in position.