[Kieran]

Hi All,

In advance, thank you for time and advice. I am a homeowner new to installing a patio and we are starting with a whopper. It is 900 square feet, free standing (does not abut the house) and we are planning to use paver brick. Thus far we have dug the patio "pit" 6" deep, placed 3" of crushed stone, tamped it w mechanical tamper, placed landscape fabric and are about to place quarry dust on top (and tamp it of course). We will leave one inch from the top free to place the brick and "techno-sand" (?)(it is something a landscape supplier told me about which is mason sand plus something that binds like cement - said I don't have to water when I place it but at the first rain it will harden like cement). The question I have is how do I plan for the slope. We were planning on sloping away from the house and neighboring property at a raate of 1/8" per foot but inexperience just prevents me from knowing how to place the string to insure that type of slope. In laying the quarry dust I want to pitch the patio correctly. ANy advice on how I do this. Thanks all.

[VoodooChile]

This is not a project for a beginner, contractor or homeowner.

[FungusMudGrub]

To get the slope, first you have to establish what is level. Put some wooden stakes around the perimeter of the patio-to-be, mark the stake on the uphill side at a point where you want the finished grade to be, then use a laser level, water level, or string level (least accurate choice) to mark all the other stakes. Now measure the distance between the uphill stake and the downhill stake, do the math, and mark the downhill stake the proper distance below the level line. For example, if the distance is 8 feet, 1/8" x 8' = 1" below the level line. Hope this helps.