I have an area on the side of my house id like to cover with pavers. When i built the house about 10 years ago, this area was all back filled with sand, about 6 feet deep. Ive put in a fee patios and have always done a gravel base typically over raw ground. Seems kinda odd, to excavate for gravel, compact and then a sand bed if the material below the gravel is sand. Am i over thinking this?

Hey all, first post here please be kind :) I'm looking at building a deck using this plan: [url=http://www.decks.com/deckplans/lowelevationdecks/2LM3014P14]Decks.com[/url] I've never built a deck before - so looking for some advice. 1. It looks like the posts for the pergola on the right are also shared by the posts for the deck & beam. How would this be achieved? Notching would weaken the post by a lot and would seem foolish to use as a post for a heavy pergola. 2. Further, the beam looks like it is either supporting a rim joist on top or IS the rim joist. I have not found any examples of people using the beam AS the rim joist. Is this a sound plan or would you recommend looking elsewhere for premade plans? Thanks for any help from diy community!