A garden patio is an ideal place for relaxation and the place where you will spend a great deal of your time during the summer and so it must be a decoration of your garden. In this article we will explain you how to build a garden patio yourself within a day or two!
We always emphasize the importance of planning and we will do it again! First plan the size of the future patio, placement of the future patio and most importantly the inclination of the future patio for the drainage of the rainfall. After the plan is done you can start with the groundworks and foundation of your future patio. For laying patio stones, blocks or brick you need to dig the hole at least 15 inches deep and about 3 inches wider then the future patio. It is important to take off the surface layer of the ground because it contains most of the roots and with that we mostly prevented weed and grass between the blocks. Also this layer is the softest layer of the ground and it is very important to remove it completely because it enhances the stability of the future patio. You can put the geotextile fabric or some sturdy pvc fabric on the bottom of the hole if you want to prevent grass and weed completely.
On the layed fabric you must put at around 6-7 inches of gravel and you have to level and stuff up the entire surface. We used vibratory plate for this particular patio but you can improvise with all kinds of weights like stone blocks and a lot of pounding. After the gravel is well stuffed you need to put around 6-7 inches of sand on it and level it with two planks and one 2X4. The trick is to put both planks around 30 inches apart and to level it and then put sand between it and then pull the 2×4 on the planks like the on the rails until the surface is leveled.
After the whole surface is leveled it is time to start with laying the blocks, stones or bricks. The procedure is almost the same as laying the tiles described in one of our previous articles How to lay tile in 5 easy steps. All you need is a rubber mallet and a level and a bit of patience.
If you don’t take the easier way, an we encourage you not to, then it’s time for grouting but when it comes to paving or stone blocks we normally don’t use grout but quartz sand. The procedure is simple, just pour the sand on the gaps and spread it with a broom or brush and repeat the procedure several times until the gaps are completely filled. After that it is time for some more pounding to settle the blocks in place. We used the vibratory plate again but you can improvise with pouring some water over the patio and then pound every block with the rubber mallet again to be sure that it is settled.
You probably noticed that we didn’t put any kerbstones around the patio and that is because the owner didn’t want them but instead we filled the gaps around the patio with concrete. On the other hand, if you decide to put kerbstones on your patio we advise you to put them first and then pave the surface. If this article inspire you to build your own garden patio than you will need some tools, we put together for you a list of tools needed for this project: 1. Shovel 2. Wheelbarrow 3. Plastic Film 4. Gravel 5. Sand 6. Paving stones, tiles or bricks 7. Quartz Sand 8. Vibratory plate 9. Rubber Mallet 10.
