Paver Patio and Seat Wall on a Sloped Yard

The brief

The owners wanted a patio. What they had was a slope that sent every heavy rain toward the back of the house, and a crawl space that smelled like it.

What we found

Grade fell toward the foundation across the whole width of the yard. No amount of attractive paving would have made that acceptable — it would have made it worse, by adding an impervious surface pointed at the house.

Soil is heavy clay here, which changes both the drainage detail and the base depth.

What we did

Regraded away from the house first, then installed a French drain along the uphill edge to intercept water before it reaches the patio at all.

The base went in as compacted lifts rather than a single dump — two full days of work before a single paver was placed, which the owner found slow at the time. The seat wall doubles as a small retaining wall on the high side.

The result

Level, well-drained, and dry underneath. Three winters on it is still flat with tight joints. The crawl space smells like a crawl space rather than a pond.