Paving stones can beautify your yard and home exterior. But, paving stones are expensive by themselves, and professional installation can cost thousands, depending on the size of your project. Its easy to see why this is a project you may rather tackle yourself.
Thankfully, its not hard to learn how to cut concrete pavers, and by the time youve finished reading this guide, you should feel confident in your ability to tackle this project.
What Youll Need
There are many ways to learn how concrete pavers can be cut. Today, well cover how to cut them by hand, and how to cut them using power tools. Here’s what you will need if you decide to do it manually:
Step I: Measuring
The first thing youll need to do is measure for each stone youll need to cut. You can do this one of two ways. You can lay all of your full stones first, then measure the distance from the end of the last full stone to the end of your project to determine the size youll need for your final cut stone.
You can also plan your entire project ahead of time and use paper to measure the stones that you will need.
Once you know the dimensions for the stone youll be cutting, use a straightedge and a carpenters pencil to mark where youll need to cut.
Step II: Cutting The Brick (the Old Fashioned Way)
If youre only going to be cutting a few pavers, or if you dont have access to any power tools, this method will do the trick.
Wear safety goggles and gloves to shield yourself against any bricks that might fly while you are chiseling.
First, youll want to use the end of your chisel to score the brick. Use firm downward pressure to score bricks along lines you have drawn with your pencil.
Next, place your chisel along the scored line and strike the chisel with the hammer. Use gentle, even strikes with the hammer. Move the chisel along the line youve scored until youve chiseled the entire brick.
You may need to repeat this process several times until the brick breaks, which is to be expected. Slow and steady wins this race. If theres too much force behind your hammer strikes, you run the risk of breaking the brick in a place you dont want it to break.
After several passes with the chisel the brick should be perfectly broken along the lines you have marked. After you’ve completed cutting the paver, there may be uneven or rough edges. If thats the case, use your hammer and chisel to refine the edge before installing your paver.
Step II: Cutting The Brick (With A Power Saw)
If youre going to be cutting multiple bricks, you can save time and energy by using a circular or table saw to cut the brick.
A diamond-tipped blade works best for this project. These blades are expensive. A masonry or carbide-tipped blade, which is much cheaper, will suffice if you don’t have one or don’t want to spend the extra money.
If youre interested in learning more about masonry blades, check out this Masonry Magazine article.
Before you get started, make sure youre wearing proper safety gear. Not only will you need gloves and safety goggles, but youll also need a respirator to protect yourself from the concrete dust that will be generated as you cut. You can also use hearing protection.
If youre using a handheld saw, like a circular saw or masonry saw, youll want to clamp your brick to a workbench before you begin cutting. Clamp the brick to the edge of the bench, so the portion of the brick you wont be saving can fall away once its cut.
Turn on the saw and start cutting the brick along the line that you have marked. Use very gentle pressure to let the saw do the rest. You may need to make multiple passes depending on the thickness of your paver to cut. Or, flip the stone halfway through to allow you to cut the other side.
Final Word
It is easy to learn how to cut concrete pavers. You can do it with the tools you have just acquired and the information in this article. When using power tools, be safe and careful. Always wear safety gear.
