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Is It OK To Build Your Patio On Dirt?

Writer's picture: Andrew FrameAndrew Frame

Building a patio can significantly enhance the outdoor living experience of your home. Whether you want a cozy space to relax with family and friends at a fire pit or hot tub, a beautiful spot for gardening, or an area for hosting barbecues, a patio serves as an ideal extension of your living space.


Let’s say that you have decided to finally pull the trigger and install the patio of your dreams. You picked out your patio pavers, ordered some paver sand, and are ready to start placing the tiles. However, many weekend warriors overlook the most crucial task in the scope of patio construction. This task is preparing a proper foundation before you start laying the pavers. You might be able to lay the flattest, most beautiful patio in the world, but given a few good rainfalls and normal usage, you will want to tear out every tile and start again.


Therefore before embarking on your patio (or any structure) journey - whether you are building it yourself or hiring a contractor, make sure that you consider its foundation.


Why Shouldn’t You Build a Patio on Dirt?


The short answer to this question is: settlement.



Depending on where you live, the competent material (usually a granular subbase) which your house was built on was backfilled with a few inches of dirt or topsoil underneath your sod.


If you remove the sod in the area where you want to build your patio, use a shovel and see how deep that layer of soil is. Ideally, your patio will be built on a material with a thickness of about 4-6 inches that retains less water than soil, such as gravel or road crush. But why?


When a load is applied on top of soil, the load is transferred to the water in the pores of the soil, instead of on the grains of soil themselves. Over time, the load will squeeze out the water like a sponge, causing the load to be transferred to the soil grains and therefore compacting them, causing the ground to settle.


Once your 4-6 inch thick subbase material is installed, it is recommended to use paver sand to achieve the final grade of your patio to make the pavers as flat and straight as possible.


Even though it does cost extra to excavate and fill your patio area with proper materials, you will save money and headache in the future, especially if you have a heavy hot tub, shed, or barbecue resting on your pavers.


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