Screeded?  Scrod?  Scrud?

After a bit of a screeding snafu I got the sand layered on gravel and leveled.  Dragging a 2x4 across two pieces of 1 inch PVC pipe worked pretty well although I find I barely have enough material.  This strikes me as a little odd since the math I did before ordering materials had me using less sand than I ordered.

Slabs look pretty flat from this angle.

What the heck.  Live and learn.

The pavers are going down.  Funny how from some angles they look nice and even and from others they seem a bit off kilter.  I think I have stared at them too long today so I am going to hang up my tools and come back with a clear head on Sunday or Monday.

From here the slabs seem a bit uneven

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It strikes me that the instructions people give for a project like this may be excessively detailed in some respects, while being deficient in others.  People seem to be really concerned with making everything straight, though --at least with slabs this large-- it's easy to see when things are not straight so eyeballing things seems to be fine.  On the other hand I wish I knew exactly how to handle the edges.  I measured and added gravel and sand only to the measurements of the finished patio, because I figured I'd need to add edging with stakes and wanted those to go into the lawn.  But I think it may have been wiser to add half a foot to all the dimensions, all around the edge.  I'm filling in an inch or so of dirt on the very sides of the patio.  In my climate and with a sandy soil I think this will be okay, but I suppose there is some potential for things to sink and the pavers to become unlevel as the dirt at those edges settles.

Moving the pavers is surpisingly easy.  Laying them down evenly is a little hard because I want to lay all their weight on an edge in the sand....which leads to smushed sand and an uneven slab.