Reference
Paver glossary
59 terms used in paver specifications, submittals and installation documents — defined in plain language, with the detail an architect or contractor needs to use them correctly.
Units
- Interlocking concrete paver
- A dry-cast concrete paving unit designed so adjacent units transfer load to each other through sand-filled joints.
- Nominal size
- The rounded dimension used to describe and order a paver, such as 6 x 12.
- Actual size
- The true manufactured dimension of a paver, usually 1/8"–3/8" under the nominal size.
- Chamfer
- The small bevel around the top face of a paver.
- Thickness
- The vertical depth of a paver unit, commonly 60mm or 80mm.
- Coping
- A finished edge unit used at pool edges, steps and wall tops.
- Bullnose
- A paver or coping unit with a rounded front edge.
- Permeable interlocking concrete pavement
- A paver system with enlarged, stone-filled joints that lets stormwater infiltrate into an open-graded aggregate reservoir.
- Turf block
- An open-cell concrete unit that supports occasional traffic while allowing grass or gravel to fill the voids.
- Modular kit
- A bundled set of complementary paver sizes designed to be laid together.
- Coverage
- The area a given quantity of pavers covers, expressed as square feet per pallet or units per square foot.
- Pallet weight
- The total shipped weight of a loaded paver pallet.
Installation
- Edge restraint
- A rigid perimeter element that stops pavers from spreading sideways.
- Joint sand
- The fine sand swept into paver joints to lock the units together.
- Polymeric sand
- Joint sand blended with polymers that harden when wetted.
- Joint stone
- Clean, angular small aggregate used in permeable paver joints.
- Screed
- The act of striking off the bedding layer to a uniform depth before laying units.
- Plate compactor
- The vibrating plate used to seat pavers and vibrate joint sand into place.
- Machine lay
- Paver units bundled in layers so a laying machine can place many at once.
- Bond beam
- The reinforced concrete beam at the top of a pool wall that coping is set on.
- Reinstatement
- Removing and replacing pavers to access what is below, then restoring the surface.
- Pedestal system
- Adjustable supports that hold pavers above a roof membrane or slab.
- Waste factor
- The extra material ordered to cover cuts, breakage and pattern loss.
- Sand set
- The conventional method of laying pavers on a bedding sand course.
- Mortar set
- Setting pavers rigidly in mortar over a concrete slab.
- Overlay
- Installing pavers over existing sound concrete or asphalt.
Base & drainage
- Subgrade
- The native soil that supports the whole paving assembly.
- Aggregate base
- The compacted crushed-stone layer between subgrade and bedding course.
- Open-graded base
- A base of single-size crushed stone with no fines, used in permeable systems as a water reservoir.
- Bedding course
- The thin layer of sand or stone the pavers are set into.
- Geotextile
- A woven or non-woven fabric used to separate soil from aggregate.
- Cross slope
- The slope across the direction of travel on a paved surface.
- Positive drainage
- Grading that moves water away from structures and off the surface.
- Underdrain
- A perforated pipe in a permeable base that removes water the subgrade cannot absorb.
- Infiltration rate
- How fast water passes into a surface or soil, usually in inches per hour.
Patterns
- Soldier course
- A single perimeter row of units laid perpendicular to the field.
- Running bond
- A layout that offsets each course by half a unit.
- Stack bond
- A grid layout where all joints align in both directions.
- Herringbone
- A 45° or 90° zig-zag of rectangular units.
- Basket weave
- Alternating pairs of horizontal and vertical units forming a woven grid.
- Random ashlar
- A layout mixing multiple unit sizes so joints do not repeat predictably.
- Soldier band
- A contrasting linear band of units used to divide or outline a field.
- Bond pattern
- The repeating arrangement of units across a paved surface.
Standards
- Detectable warning
- A truncated-dome surface that warns pedestrians with vision impairments of a transition into a vehicular way.
- ASTM C936
- The standard specification for solid concrete interlocking paving units.
- ASTM C1782
- The standard specification for utility segmental concrete paving slabs.
- Compressive strength
- The load per unit area a concrete paver withstands before failure.
- Absorption
- The percentage of water a concrete unit takes up by weight.
- Freeze-thaw durability
- A unit's resistance to damage from repeated freezing and thawing while saturated.
- Lifecycle cost
- Total cost of a surface over its service life, not just installed cost.
- Submittal
- The package of product data and samples a specifier reviews before installation.
- Spec sheet
- The manufacturer's data sheet for a specific paver product.
Finishes
- Efflorescence
- A temporary white haze of calcium carbonate that can appear on new concrete pavers.
- Sealer
- A surface or penetrating treatment applied to concrete pavers.
- Tumbled finish
- A surface produced by tumbling units to soften edges and faces.
- Shot blast finish
- A surface blasted to expose the aggregate.
- Embossed finish
- A textured top face pressed into the unit during manufacture.
- Color blend
- A deliberate mix of pigments and aggregate producing variation across units.
- Integral color
- Pigment mixed throughout the concrete rather than applied to the surface.