I'm getting ready to start a DIY fire pit using pavers in a circular design. I've read that the first step (after the obvious digging) is to lay down around 5 inches of gravel or crushed stone. Then, lay down 2-4 inches of sand on top of the gravel. Is the gravel absolutely necessary, and if so, why?
The DIY instructions I'm following also say I should lay the sand, place the pavers, fill in the gaps around the pavers with more sand, wet the sand, allow them the pavers some time to settle, and then remove all the sand between the pavers via powerwasher before filling the gaps with polymeric sand. Why would I want to fill the gaps with regular sand if I'm just going to remove it shortly thereafter?
Thanks for the help!