Screed Bedding Sand for the Next Paver With a Notched Jig

The Problem

Setting each new paver to the height of its neighbors is the slow part of laying a patio or walkway. Screed the bedding sand a little high and the paver sits proud; a little low and it rocks or sinks. Most DIYers end up lifting the same paver three or four times, adding and scraping sand by guesswork.

The Technique

This crew uses a site-made wooden jig — roughly an L-shape with a notched profile — that takes the guesswork out:

1. The jig sits on top of the pavers that are already laid, using the finished surface as its reference.
2. A step cut into the jig hangs down to the bedding level: the paver's thickness plus nothing extra.
3. Drag the jig along the laid edge and it scrapes the sand to exactly the depth the next paver needs — flush with the existing surface, in one pass.

Because the reference is the finished work itself rather than a separate rail or string line, the height carries forward paver by paver, and each new one lands flush the first time it's set down.

This one is worth watching in motion — the video shows the jig's shape and the single-pass scrape better than words can.