Building a Patio on Disturbed Soil

For the longest lifespan with the least maintenance, you want your patio to be built on soil that hasn't been disturbed in a long time. The less the soil under your patio settles, the longer your patio will last without any "tune ups" needed.

But there are always solutions if the best place for the patio happens to have settling soil under it.

Some common trouble areas:

Around the foundation of newer homes

The space 3 to 4 feet from the foundation of a new home is guaranteed to settle for 25 years for more. It might settle for as long as 40 years. A few more feet out from that area, extending about to about six to eight from the foundation might also settle for a similar length of time. That 6 to 8 feet of backfill around the foundation wall is never properly compacted.

In building a backyard patio we encourage customers to avoid that space right next to the foundation, but if for design or practical reasons we need to build right up to the back of the house, we make it clear that those areas will settle and will need some attention within 5 years or less. That's not the end of the world either since it's not difficult to raise a settling patio.

Next to a new driveway

The space next to a new driveway can also be a problem area due to excavation and poorly compacted backfill.

Where a tree was recently removed

In old homes we don't want to build a patio in the same spot as a recently removed tree. The remains of a stump or roots will decay over time causing instability.

It may be necessary to increase the excavation depth to ensure the stump and all roots are removed, but that can certainly be done!

Sometimes the entire yard!

In newer subdivisions, entire yards may be covered with 2 or 3 feet of new fill to achieve the required grades.

This fill is leveled and compacted with large equipment, but even then, it may not be fully compacted.

We deal with that by compacting the clay under every patio with a jumping jack compactor designed for compacting heavy clay. That squeezes the air out of the top 12 to 18 inches of clay, ensuring a stable, uniform sub-base for the granular crushed limestone base that we install next.

Send us a quick email or give us a call to discuss your project! With a little discussion we can help make a solid plan for your patio.