AWS Diamond Head Series® Installation

Pre-Installation

Pre-cut appropriate half-inch increments of SDR 35 PVC. Use predetermined height of installed pavers indicated on plan drawings. Allow for a half inch added height of a fully assembled DHS pedestal including the cut pvc pipe.
Arrive at job site. Lead Foreman and job lead review the project layout.
Bring pre-cut lengths of PVC to the project site, off load with pavers.
Crew begins by sweeping the job site of debris.
Foreman instructs crew to off load the pavers and provides them with how many pavers are to be stocked on each installation area/deck. Avoid point loading.
Foreman and Lead measure from left to right making sure no small cuts end up at railings/walls.Set string line going from north to south and east to west. The string line is a guide to maintain square sets of your pavers at the appropriate height. Most clients or architects would like to see the pavers tuck just underneath the threshold with cut pavers ending up against the side of the building/house.

Working in a four (4) person crew, three (3) crew members are setting pedestals and laying pavers.
Using pre-cut pvc from warehouse, One (1) crew person is combining PVC pipe and snapping 2 piece adjustable head and a bottom cap on each piece before handing to the install crew.
Installers have a small caddy tray with AWS top shims; slope compensators and buffer pads to fine tune the pedestal height and ensure a level installation. Other tools may include a tape measure, marking pencil, 4’ or 6’ level.
Begin by installing all the full sized pavers first. These are called the field pavers.
A normal installation will require one each of both sizes of top shims for every pedestal. Each top shim is designed to snap in to the two piece adjustable top cap.
Do not attempt to cut the PVC at an angle to compensate for the slope of the deck. Use the engineered slope compensator. Adjusts for 2% slope.
Assign one (1) of the install crew to begin measuring, marking and cutting pavers for the areas that will require less than full pavers. The pavers are always to be cut using a wet saw with a diamond tip blade.
The best setup for using a wet saw is a pop-up canopy with snap on sidewall panels. To avoid potential staining and damage to property always set up the wet saw downwind from the building and downgrade.
Expect an experienced crew to set 150 pavers each per day (24×24, 18×18, 16×16).
An experienced crew can mark, cut and lay 120 lineal feet of paver per day.

In a triangle or non-90 degree corner you can use a bottom cap in place of the two piece adjustable head cap. Two bottom caps work well if you need to support the center of a large paver. It gives you a flat top in this application. Use 1/4″ bottom shims to adjust pedestal height to level with adjacent pedestals. Or cut a special piece of pvc pipe that allows for 1/4″ in height difference for two bottom caps on each end of the pvc.
Do you have less than a two-inch clearance at a threshold? Start that row out using either a top spacer with fine and a 1/4″ bottom shim on a buffer pad (1/2″ profile) or if even less is needed you can start that row with a top spacer with fins on the buffer pad (1/4″ profile).
When setting a pedestal against the wall/perimeter of the building/house you will want to use the AWS perimeter pedestal.
Always consult the architect about using the buffer pad on a waterproof membrane. The buffer pad protects the membrane from wear and tear over the years. This is your insurance policy against a call back years down road. On excessive sloping conditions sub in the slope compensator for the buffer pad to adjust for up to 2% slope.

Pedestal orders are normally calculated with up to a 5% override. This gives the installer enough parts to cover for unexpected corners, planter boxes that never show up on the drawing, bump outs that are created by framers who needed a little room for a drain chase and so on. On a 1000 pedestal installation you should be selling up to 1050 pedestals to cover the project. Overnight shipping and lost installation time is much more costly in the long run.
Roofing companies are some of the best clients. Landscapers and deck builders are becoming a larger segment for us.

See the AWS “DiamondTM Head Series” Cut sheet for a description and the dimensions of each AWS Pedestal System part.