PSA: That $800 paver base I laid myself last summer is now a wavy mess after one freeze-thaw cycle

I followed every YouTube tutorial on compacting the gravel base for my patio but I guess I missed the part about drainage because now half the pavers are sinking and the other half are popping up, has anyone else had to rip out their DIY hardscape after just one winter?

2 comments

2 Comments

felix47826d ago

Heard a landscaping guy on a podcast say that most DIY paver failures come down to skipping the geotextile fabric under the gravel base... seems like that keeps everything stable through the frost heave. I wonder if your compacted base just didn't have enough depth below the frost line for your area.

casey_campbell26d ago

Laughed out loud when I read this cause I literally skipped the fabric on my first patio project and it looks like a roller coaster now. Guess I thought I knew better than the pros! My base was only like 4 inches deep which is nowhere near enough for the frost line here in zone 5. Ended up having to rip the whole thing out and start over last spring. The fabric plus a solid 8 inches of compacted gravel made all the difference the second time around. So yeah I can confirm that skipping the fabric is a rookie mistake that I totally made.

-1