Paver patio grading question

Question about the slope needed for installing a paver patio:

Does the slope need to stay constant throughout all layers...or is just the soil that needs to be sloped with the remaining layers being level?

Basically, should the layer of pavers be flat or will it slope away from the house as well?

I attached a crude drawing of what I mean to help visualize. The thickness of the layers is not necessarily what I'll be doing, I just pulled it from the how-to guide on lowes.com.

I want to make sure I get the foundation right, but nothing I've read mentions anything other than digging deeper away from the house.



Thanks for the help.

 

Welcome to the forums.

Compacted base slopes away from the house and the layers on top of that are parallel to it so they end up sloping the same amount.

 

So it will be like the bottom half of my picture, where all layers are the same thickness from the house to the edge of the patio?

 

Yes, that is correct.

The slope does not need to be what you've shown, however, 1/4" of drop per foot of run is sufficient.

 

Awesome, thanks for clearing that up.

(I exaggerated the slope only to help it show up better in the drawing.)

 

I get more accurate as I build my layers. The bottom of the excavated hole I honestly don't worry too much about slope. I do try to put it in because it helps it to drain to one side so you can pump it out if you get rain. As the base layers go in and get compacted I start tightening up and building in the proper slope and insure that there are no humps or valleys. Then the final layer of sand before the pavers is just for very fine tuning.

I consider 1/8" per foot to be the minimum slope for a paver patio. 1/4" per foot drains water faster and helps avoid water trapped in the texture of the pavers. 1/4" also seems to be where a good observant person will notice the slope but most others don't notice it. If you go over 1/4" per foot it becomes more noticeable to more people and by 3/8 or 1/2" per foot sitting in a chair can be awkward depending on the direction you are facing not to mention what a saucy dish sitting on a table does.

 

The slope depends actually on you, you do not need to make it almost perfect, a slight drop per foot would be what you need to do. I do adhere about 1/4 as it in fact absorbs water in a faster speed than on 1/8, and that's based on personal experience and work.

Trust me I have been in this business for 16 years with xxx

Goodluck on your work sir. :No Beer 4U: