Patio stones sink from unstable (soft)
ground, normally caused by improper drainage. The only way to
permanently correct this is to stabilize the ground and allow the
water to drain away. If your patio is at the bottom of a hill or in
a depression in your yard, you might want to think about
re-landscaping your yard.
- Remove the problem stone and all stones next to it.
- Dig down into the
ground about 3" (If you're not that strong, rent a "Bobcat" (a
small excavator), to do the job.
- Backfill with 2" of coarse stone to allow proper drainage. Even
out as level or close to level as possible.
- Backfill with 1.5" - 2" of coarse sand or fine gravel
- With a 2x4 or other straight board scrape the top layer smooth
using a level to guide you. Let the sand sit slightly higher then
the base of the other patio stones to allow for settling.
- Place the patio stones back in their respective places.
- Use some sand and a broom to fill in the gaps between the
stones to keep them from shifting when in place, this also helps by
reducing the weeds from growing up between the stones.
- The stones will settle a bit after this repair, if the stones
go lower then the desired final resting place:
- Remove the stones
- Add more sand or gravel
- Smooth out with a level
- Replace Stone
- Fine gravel works better then sand as a finishing layer as it
does not wash away with water as easily
- Also Works for bricks or tiles. Make sure you cover a wide
area. If you use brick, remember that if the area is shady, moss
will grow quickly, causing slippery conditions and they'll have to
be cleaned often.
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Warnings
- This requires a lot of time, and can be more labour intensive
than expected.
- NOTE: Before digging, even if you think it's safe, contact your
local power and gas companies (for example, in one region it's
1-800-DIG-SAFE), to make sure you won't hit any electric or gas
lines, which could be deadly! Also check your lot plan to see where
sewer lines run. Cutting into sewer lines is messy, a bio-hazard
and very expensive to fix!
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Things You'll Need
- Shovel
- Coarse Gravel or 1" stone
- Coarse sand or fine gravel
- Wheel Barrow
- 2x4
- Level
- Broom
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