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Landscape Design Porches & Decks DIY

Depth of paver base for paver patio?

5 years ago

Hi,

I'm building a paver patio this Spring and I'm considered about the depth for the gravel base. Our soil has a lot of clay mixed in and water stands quite a bit in the yard. We were planning on adding 4" of gravel and 1" of sand. I was thinking instead of adding 6" or more, but I'm not sure if it is necessary. I figured water shouldn't be penetrating enough to fill 4" and if it does, it will only be a matter of time before it reaches 6". I spoke with a couple of people at Menards who thought 4" would be fine, but I wanted to get another opinion. Should I increase from the gravel depth given our soil type?

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

User
5 years ago
The depth and composition of paver base is to support the load/usage, not to mitigate water. You may have to plumb your yard if you have standing water.
User
4 years ago
Another consideration is your location, the colder the climate the deeper the base needs to be. I think they call it frost heave.
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Mystic Pools, LLC
4 years ago
Where we are in the Northeast, we will put down a 6"-8" base of what we call quarry process stone or QP. Some areas locally call it Item #1, #2 or #3. It's a mix of small gravel (3/8"), larger gravel 1/2"-3/4") and stone dust/cinders. Best illustration I give to clients is it's like granola.

It compacts very well with a plate compactor to provide a stable base. We use stone dust/cinders on top to "fine tune" the height, and then the pavers are set.

Using sand or stone dust directly over clean gravel is not a good idea. Either of these will eventually work their way into a gravel base over time from water and the paver stones will lose their support system. A filter fabric could be put in between to retain the sand but it's an extra step and expense not needed.

We sweep clean mason sand into the pavers upon completion or the best is a polymeric sand which will not wash out and moves with the pavers. It's aids in preventing weed growth also.

It's important your patio is pitched to prevent any standing water-1/4" per foot is the norm.

If it's possible to pitch the clay soil beneath, any moisture that goes through the bases will still wick away from the patio. Clay is an expansive soil so in freeze/thaw regions, wet clay soil will expand and heave. Even in non-freeze/thaw regions it can move.

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