[hoowaa]

Hello.

Fantastic Forum.

I am in a new home.

I am installing a paver patio (500 square feet).

I also want to install paver/retaining wall stairs leading down to the new patio (3 feet rise).

With the home being so new I have stability concerns around the foundation. I am assuming that it will take YEARS for the soil/clay around the foundation to settle out which is giving me pause as to installing the paver steps.

Can I install a rebar reinforced pad attached to my foundation a few inches below grade to build on ?

Are there other methods ?

Lastly, I have looked high and low for "how to's" on building stairs. I am looking at about a 3 foot drop from my back door down to my paver patio, 4 feet from the foundation. Any links to such material would be appreciated.

[Stonehenge]

Hoowaa - A poured footing is a perfectly reasonable approach to avoiding possible issues with settling soils around a new house. There are a couple other techniques we use, but it'd take me a page of text to describe it, even to someone in the industry.

I would say to compact the soils as best you can, then pour a slab tied to the foundation, extending beyond the weak part of the soils. It's not a guarantee of success, but it's a great start.

[hoowaa]

Thanks for your time and expert opinion. I have seen enough bad work in my new subdivision (failing walls, patios, driveways) from DIYers like myself and from pro's alike that I know corners are being cut.

I want to do this right and appreciate your time.

I've attached a picture of the beginning and will show the end if interested.

[Lanelle]

Welcome! A couple of questions. What is that white material on the ground? How deep did you excavate your sub-base? Be careful with your grade on the right side. Looks to be following the slope more than it should.

[hoowaa]

The white material is what we call "3/4 down" (limestone rocks and dust) for the base - not sure that the term is the same everywhere or not.

My patio area is about 500 sq feet in a kind of kidney shape and I have about 7-8 inches (13 yards) pre-compact level. That picture is before I had all the material in place, I have since had more material added to bring it to the level desired.

Thanks for noticing though. Helpful folks here.

[hoowaa]

Here's proof of the additional material and the pavers.

[Stonehenge]

The soils that the crushed stone is on - are they virgin, or is that fill? I ask because the rest of the backyard looks somewhat freshly filled and/or graded.

If so, with 7-8" of uncompacted stone already down, I'm worried about the long term durability of the base prep.

For the time being, I'd stop adding any stone (or sand or anything), and try to rent a reversible plate compactor (something with around 10,000 pounds of force (I don't recall the equivalent kilonewtons)) to pack that stone down. At 7-8", the standard 5 horse Honda-driven compactor won't get the job done. Just too much material to compact.

But I would think pouring the slab as step support would be a good option, especially considering your geography.

[hoowaa]

Thanks Stonehenge.

The area was graded last year (August/September time frame) and the yard material is pretty much all clay.

I had the area excavated and had the base added this weekend.

It rained like mad on Sunday evening so I was unable to spread the piles in the pic above.

I will have the pile of material you see removed and will compact the existing material (about 4-5 inches) with a large compactor as you suggest, then re-add the material you see in piles and recompact with the same compactor.

Thanks for the constructive critisism/advice.

- Mike

[sleepy]

you may need to cut the bottom of that fence off and replace the boards with pressure treated lumber. This will be a retaining wall for the soil if the fence is done right. Than you might need to put in a catch basin and drain pipe at the right corner of the house to allow you to get it to grade. Thats a tight one on the Right side since your lot is higher than the neighbor on the right.
Good eye Lanelle.

[jwholden]

If the soil is clay I would recommend a woven geotextile under the base (in hindsight).

I agree with renting a big reversible plate. A little extra expense up front will save you from doing it again in the future.

[hoowaa]

The fence is indeed built of pressure treated lumber (brown).

My neighbor's home and I are at the same grade - we both have the same slope in the backyard where the sides feed into the "channel" about a foot below grade where the fence is built for drainage to street from the front yard.

It is not too late for me to pull the base and put down a geotextile. Is this material something that is purchasable at Home Depot or is it more specialized than that ?

[hoowaa]

Compacted base with a reversable plate compactor capable of 12500 lbs of force.

Work in progress here:

[Stonehenge]

Looks great Hoowaa!

I wouldn't worry a ton about the efflourescence on some of those pavers - it should wear off in a few months. Also, a tip on marking/cutting the pavers - pull up that soldier course and lay the field all the way to the edge restraint - then mark and cut. You might be able to rent a paver scribe (check pavetech.com for this tool) to do the marking, or you can just use a paver as a guide, or even 1/2" plastic conduit (the more flexible, the better).

If you carried all those pavers yourself, I'm sure your back was feeling it at about the time that photo was snapped.

[hoowaa]

The patio is layed.

Compacting and sanding this evening.

Soil and sod this weekend.

The almost finished product:

[Stonehenge]

Looks like you have a helper. I don't know if they make steel-toe boots that small.