How to Score Pavers

To save money on installing a walking path or patio, you can do it yourself. If you do, you will have to cut the pavers yourself to fit around corners, posts or other obstructions. While you can use a machine to cut pavers, you can save money by manually cutting them, and you won’t generate as must dust. To cleanly cut a paver, you must first score it to give the material a line along which to break. If you take your time and use the right tools, you can get the hang of scoring pavers for cutting in no time.


Use a metal square as a straight edge to mark a pencil line on the paver where you want to cut it. Continue marking the paver all the way around where you want the cut.


Put on ear protection and safety goggles. The noise and flying debris can cause serious injury, so protect yourself.


Place the paver flat on the ground or a bed of sand. Do not place it on a hard surface that has no give. A hard surface underneath can lead to shattering the paver when you score and cut it.


Hold the edge of a cold chisel against the pencil line on top of the paver at an angle of about 60 degrees. Tap the end of the chisel gently once or twice with a hammer to begin to carve a scoring groove along the pencil line. Move the chisel along the line and tilt it 60 degrees in the opposite direction and tap once or twice. Do not hammer the chisel hard because it may split the paver unevenly before you have finished the score line.


Continue moving the chisel along the pencil line all the way around the paver until you have made a 1/16-inch groove along the pencil line.