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Landscaping question/help needed.

P

patrick24601

Member
This is urgent because this is a work in progress that started today.

Here is a picture of where the contractors are on the patio.

http://allaboutfocus.com/images/mypatio2.jpg

The land elevation is higher by the house than it is by the cameraman (me) - by about 5-6". So the land has to be built up with something (dirt, gravel) in order to get a patio that is eventually somewhat level. By the time they get the gravel to out by the cameraman it is going to be 4-5" thick.

We thought there was going to be more of a dirt base and less gravel. Is all of that gravel a problem? Will it affect the stability? Will we have drainage issue?

Your opinion could help save my marriage 🙂

Thanks in advance,
Patrick
 
I would say it will be ok if they compacted the soil first. They probably want a little slope to the patio to make the water run off it too. Make sure they use edging to keep the patio from moving when they are done.
 
Gravel will help with drainage. But, I don't think you can put the bricks on gravel. I'd think you'd want a layer of sand under them. Also, as already mentioned, compaction is important.
 
Im pretty sure that it settles out...
my brother is a mason and he helped my parents put in a patio such as the one you have...

looked pretty similar, remember being slightly confused as to why it was up so high...
 
We did almost exactly the same thing. We had 14 inches of gravel and sand that we had to compact before we could put the bricks down. We sloped the gravel and sand, and then covered it with plenty of dirt to hold it in place. Gravel helps with drainage, and if there is plenty of sand, as it settles it will just get hard.
 
The subsoil should have evened out the grade not the gravel. The deeper gravel is not going to settle at the same rate as the shallow gravel (with a hopefully compacted subsoil).

 
In a freeze thaw area, I don't know if having porous gravel under your course is such a hot idea. Whats the deal with all the footprints in the sand? How the hell can that be level. Ugh, tell me you are doing this yourself and just pretending on the contractor part.
 

Depends where you are, more gravel and sand with drain tiles would be good if you are in wet ground, and it is better to be safe than sorry because gravel and sand is cheap (around $22 CAD a cubic yard in my area).

There are many design that you can go with to stop erosion from the 5-6? elevation, however I prefer large stones/boulders & rock garden for landscaping and as erosion deterrent.

Looks good keep going.

 
So long as they use some method of compaction, the gravel is the best fill you can use.
It is free draining and structurally sound.
 
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