i may be too late with this, but i thought i might be able to help. you really don't need the "landscape cloth" layer, and in fact your suspicion that it inhibits the compaction is correct. the compacted dg will tend to break up as it slips on the landscape cloth and be less stable than if it were just on a base course. i am an architect and have been working with landscape architects on decomposed granite paths, parking lots, patios, etc. for years. we have always had problems when the contractor insisted on using some kind of weed prevention cloth layer. the first thing you need to do is REMOVE the grass - don't just kill it. if you leave the dead grass, as it decomposes it will create voids that will cause settlement. the best way to install dg is to compact the base soil with a plate compactor, lay down about 4-6" of what is called aggregate base course or "road base" (assorted size gravel with some fines) and then compact that with the plate compactor, and finally the dg (about 3 inches thick) and compact that too. if the base is properly prepared and everything is compacted that way, it will be a rare and hardy weed that ever makes it's way through. make sure that the surface is crowned slightly or else slopes one way or the other. dg will absorb water, but it does so at a semi-slow rate, and you want to eliminate ponding. you don't really need any kind of stabilizer or binder unless you want to support vehicular traffic. if you do, i don't know that you can get it at lowes or home depot. we usually have it supplied by a company called Stabilizer Solutions (out of Arizona) but they pre-mix it into the material and truck it out to the jobsite (cross country if necessary). not really good for do-it-yourself kind of jobs...

I just wanted to update this thread.. I am now finally getting around to landscaping our back yard after many road blocks. So decomposed granite and crusher fines or “chat” are not the same thing. DG is a naturally occuring erosion process created by mother nature and time and the product result is smoothish rounded pieces compared to crushed fines which are rough, jagged edged pieces that show signs of manually being broken or crushed and that is exactly how crusher fines or chat are made, they are crushed and broken apart with heavy equipment. To reduce the risk of tracking in the fine particulates of DG into the house it is suggested to use a larger sized DG. For light duty pathways that may never see the use of a wheelbarrow or trailer running over it then a 1/4” DG or crusher fines can be used but for utility pathways then a 3/8” DG or crusher fine will want to be used. There is this great little E book called “Decomposed Granite…..” by leslie patten and it goes over how to install a long lasting DG patio with proper road base installation and DG installation and there are no stabilizers needed or weed barrier and most surprising and contrary to popular belief is that you do not in fact install 2”-4” of decomposed granite. I highly recommend getting her Ebook and learning more about how to install DG using this method. I now suspect the reason DG is not widely sold in Utah has to do with the water retention + heavy moisture = slow draining so you end up with standing water and mud pits. The chat or crusher fines however are usually filled with sand or dirt to give it a denser compaction ability and to offer color variation. so for the most part after going back and looking at my original sources local to Utah for ”decomposed granite” I have since discovered some of the places are actually selling crushed fines and not decomposed granite. I can now identify the distinct characteristics between the two products. it is my understanding that installing anything less than 3/8” DG or crusher fines can result in a very soft and mushy ground cover and should be reserved for use in garden beds or used in areas that have imbedded paver stones and see minimal traffic. i hope this helps others who may stumble upon this!

If you are handy with a saw and screw gun, you can build a form out of some melamine shelving or something, strong enough to maintain its shape, but not break apart from the weight of pour. Caulk the inside corners. Its how concrete counters are made. Pour the concrete in, mixed to a flowable slump, and let it sit for a day or two. Unscrew form sides and flip it over. If you want it to be even cooler, line your forms with textured panels or something and it will resemble the pattern. Even a huge maple leaf if your into that type of thing. Its easy don't be scared!

Sorry it took a while to respond. Our kitchen was destroyed two years ago (which is related to this discussion) by cast iron pipes that had rusted underneath our concrete foundation. So life here is wackadoo. So, the reason I became concerned about the foundation is convoluted. First things first, our house sits on hard clay soil. Because our pipes needed to be placed, our wood flooring had to be pulled up and trail of concrete needed to be jack hammered out from our bathroom to our kitchen. The trail goes through our office, our family room and about four feet into the kitchen. So we can see quite a bit of what the concrete looks like. In doing this, we found out that our concrete (and apparently most houses built in San Diego at the same time) has no rebar. And we have a large crack that basically breaks our slab in two running right down the middle. The slab is about 1400sf and maybe 4x3 ratio. A year ago, we got hit with a major rain storm and that's when I noticed the concrete patch (that had been dry for months, look wet. We called the repair guys back and they agreed it was probably moisture from underneath. They weren't sure if we needed to be concerned. I did notice a large pooling of water about 15 feet from the house just past our back patio which concerned me because I was thinking that maybe that had something to do with that. Or maybe that was a sign that some areas closer to the house might be softer soil and might be allowing too much water under the foundation. So I was thinking about just pouring concrete in the space between our foundation and the sidewalk (about 1 foot out from the foundation) so that we might be able to put some short planters that with drainage that would force any water (rain or from watering the plants) onto the sidewalk. So we got quotes from concrete guys and it was really expensive. Then I read about decomposed concrete and thought that if it was less porous than our dirt (obviously it's more porous than concrete), it might be enough of a solution. But I don't know when then planters would be going in. I could be "tomorrow" or two years from now (my family takes a loooong time to make decisions). So that's where things stand. I really appreciate everyone's input and guidance. You guys could be saving me a ton of money by keeping me from doing something stupid. :)