[gfj]

Hello,

I just bought "Pavestone" plaza pavers (at the rediculously low price of about 80 cents per SF), but they are not tumbled. I had originally wanted tumbled, but I could not pass up the price that I got these for.

So the question: has anybody ever tumbled their own pavers? I was think I could just get a drum and tumble them myself... Thoughts? Suggestions?

Any help would sure be appreciated, although I certainly understand that this advice may be a long time coming since this site is not generally intended to help homeowners!

~gfj

[jshilan]

I don't see why you can't rent a cement mixer and give it a shot. It might take a while but what.the heck the pavers are made the same way.

The only thing I ask is that you let us know what method you try and what worked.

[Stonehenge]

I can tell you a method to try - we've used it a few times with success, and I was told by a Unilock rep that in their very early days of tumbling, it's what they did.

Get some sand. Rent a skidsteer. Find yourself a patch of pavement. Dump pavers onto pavement. Add sand. Scoop and dump, scoop and dump until tumbled the way you like.

[AZTLANLC]

Tha is a good method but the way I see and alway tell my customers is this if you really like something but can't afford it then wait.
This is a job you will see for many years to come and just because you saved $500-700 dls. you will most likely regret it for many years to come, how about if you ever want to extend the patio area i doubt those pavers will remain in the same price or even worse if they will be available in the future.
Last tv I wanted was a sony lcd 1080p for 3k (3 years ago) but bought a westinghouse (I think that is the brand) just cause I couldn't pass the deal well you know what, now every time I watch tv I regret not having spend the extra 1k on the tv that I really wanted.

[TerraSerenity]

So True Aztlanlc- I always try to encourage my customers to think about the big picture. Stone or Powersports- I couldn't stop laugh about that one. Only because my main business for the last 11 years is Power-sports- Ie Motorscooters. It always surprises me when customers come in and only want to spend X. I'm sure to make suggestions once I understand there needs. Only to help them realize what they thought they wanted didn't meet there true needs. Making them a Educated consumer whether they buy from me or some one else. Those who come back are the ones who just didn't get it- or read the 3 page article on my web site. Then they buy what doesn't meet there needs only to loose money come back to me and buy what they should have in the first place. PEOPLE - its all about saving the BUCK- I don't think so- just save the Buck so you can buy what you wanted in the first place.

Now GFJ you'll spend more time working out a HOW TOO just because you saved some Pennies- TWO words- Craigs List- then buy the Tumbled with the cash. Best of luck try not to work to hard to make your .80 sf paver turn into a .00 paver if you mess up the art of tumbling. And remember your time is worth money. Really.

But hey I'm all about Stonehenge- any thing that involves playing in sand with my skid loader just sounds like my child hood all over- count me in any time.! That sounds like a great new event to be held at the next Hardscape convention- just make sure Happy Hour is over before they start.

[gfj]

Thanks for your replies, jshilan, Stonehenge, AZTLANLC, and TerrSerenity! I sure appreciate it.

And I can certainly appreciate the sentiment regarding buying the correct item the first time. I actually like what I bought, but it is just not my ideal paver. So I will live with it, and do other things in my yard (build a wall, landscaping, etc.) that will make everything work.

Regarding my decision about tumbling the pavers. I think I'll likely NOT do that. For one thing, I am concerned about what a sales guy at the yard where I bought these said:

"once the pavers have cured, it is difficult to tumble them without breaking them."

He said that the manufacturer actually tumbles them before they are completely hardened cured, which gives them some give because they are less brittle. Do you folks think there is any truth to this?

Secondly, I agree that time is money, and tumbling almost 400 SF of paver sounds like a lot of time and certainly a lot of effort. Not that I am opposed to effort, but the results don't seem certain enough to justify the effort, in this case.

Anyway, sorry I can't offer you all a test case.

But definitely, thank you ALL for your input!!!!

[TerraSerenity]

Good choice. Now get to work on that new project so you can move on to the having a reason to go out and buy some more "precious stones" as Techno bloc likes to say. Nice to always know some listens.

But I was really hoping to hear some feed back on how to tumble.

[Hoosier]

I was told that Belgards are now being hammered and not tumbled.