So this Saturday I’m embarking on the ‘let’s level my patio stones so they water doesn’t drain TOWARDS the house.
Seeing that this is a giant job, it will consist of the following elements:
– 4 guys
– beer
– bbqed meat
I was wondering if anyone out there could help me with some details? Here’s how I envision the process:
1. Lift stones.
2. Redtribute sand.
3. Lay patio stones down.
4. Make sure they are on such an angle that a tennis ball can start rolling away from the house (learned this from the house inspector).
Other than that, I’m thinking that’s it? Eric was mentioning maybe renting a compactor but I don’t really know if that’s necessary?
Offer the Palmer some advice!
***Update – after reading Katie’s comments, I’m not sure if I made it clear that what we’re moving are those giant patio stones that go up a walkway…like there are five or six of them…I’m not talking about the brick sized ones. I’m not sure if that makes a difference or not.***
7 replies on “Help!”
I agree that you should probably rent a compacter of some kind. You can rent one of those giant heavy rollers instead of a mechanized one, it will probably be cheaper.
The reason being, you want your screening (which is what you should use, not sand) to be compacted enough that the stones don’t shift in the future. If you didn’t do this, I would imagine that a few years down the road you’ll just be repeating this process because all the stones in the middle sunk or something equally annoying. By compacting you should eliminate most of the shifting/settling of the sand.
I hope that helps. You can thank my dad for not minding that he had four girls instead of any boys and so taught us lots of interesting stuff.
ps. I’m not sure if screening was the right word. But I think there is something that’s finer than sand and compacts better.
What time?
Stone dust(fine gravel) will make a better base for the stones, but you have to make it a few inches deep.
Oh yeah, I’ll be getting ready to leave for the arctic Saturday.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned from Trish, it’s that you should abandon your feminist principles and get some man to do it. then retreat into the kitchen to bake him brownies or something. It’s less work that way. Here’s a tip: ask if he wants ground walnuts or chocolate chips in them. It’s all in the details. And tie a pink bow around them.
I am so glad that my blog could offer helpful tips that people can apply to their every day lives.