Vent: That guy at the hardware store told me to skip the gravel base for my patio

So I was pricing out materials for a small paver patio in my backyard, maybe 8x10 feet. This older dude at the local Ace in Austin overheard me asking about crushed stone and said I was OVERCOMPLICATING it. He swore up and down that just leveling the dirt and laying sand was fine for that size. I figured he's been doing this forever so he must know. Well, after three freeze thaw cycles this past winter, half my pavers are shifting and sinking like crazy. I'm looking at tearing the whole thing up this spring and redoing it PROPERLY with gravel and compacted base. Has anyone else gotten bad advice from random strangers at the store that cost you way more time and money in the end?

3 comments

3 Comments

max_ross12d ago

You ever hear about my buddy Dave who built a shed on just dirt because some guy at the lumber yard said it'd be fine?

terry_carter1512d ago

Oh man, "just dirt" takes me back. @max_ross, your buddy Dave sounds exactly like my cousin Frankie. He built a whole back patio on plain dirt after some guy at the hardware store swore it would work. Three months later, it was basically a muddy ditch full of ants. I think we've all learned the hard way that you really do need gravel and a good foundation. Dave probably ended up spending twice as much to fix it.

hollyc9212d ago

That whole "it's just a small patio" thing gets thrown around way too much. I'm not gonna lie, I've seen some patios on just sand and dirt that held up okay for a few years in the right conditions. But freeze thaw is no joke, that'll mess up anything that isn't solid. Hard to say if the guy at the hardware store is the real villain here or if maybe the soil under your spot is just super clay heavy. Either way, ripping it out and doing gravel now is probably the smart play.