Installing a Paver or Gravel Patio


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Old 07-14-14, 11:56 AM
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Installing a Paver or Gravel Patio

Hi all...I'm new here. Hopefully I posted this in the right place. If not, my apologies!

My partner and I are first-time home owners. We just bought our house last September; it came with a beautiful deck attached to an above-ground pool. We loved the deck but we didn't care much for the pool. Went through the hassle of opening it this summer after it was neglected last year--spent lots of money getting it ready...and surprise! It collapsed on us while we were swimming in it with my baby sister this past weekend.

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. But to make a long story short, we now have a big, ugly patch where our pool used to be (pictures attached).

We'd love to turn the area into a patio of sorts and plan on hiring a contractor to build a set of stairs down from the deck to the new patio area, along with installing handrails along the rest of the deck.

However, we're also trying to do this on somewhat of a budget, so we'd like to do the patio ourselves. Trying to decide between a patio with brick pavers or a gravel patio. The space where the pool was is 24 feet in diameter, and I really don't want to deal with cutting pavers to make it perfectly round. I've found some paver kits online where the pavers are pre-cut to make a round patio, but the largest kit I've been able to find for that is about 10 feet in diameter, so that's out of the question.

I guess my question is: given the size and shape of the space we're working with, would a gravel patio be do-able? What are the pros and cons of a gravel patio versus one with pavers? I assume that we'd need to re-pour gravel every so often, but given our relatively limited budget and lack of experience with laying pavers, I'm leaning towards this option. We also have a firepit in our yard that we plan on relocating to the center of the new patio area.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas? I'd appreciate any feedback, as we are pretty clueless at this point and were definitely not expecting to have to take on a project like this anytime soon!

Oh, and as you can tell from the pics, we were finally almost done staining and sealing our deck--which was a big project in itself--before this chaos happened! Ah, the joys of home ownership...

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Old 07-14-14, 01:02 PM
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You could just plant grass.

You don't have to make the patio (if using pavers) round, although it would look nice.
If go the gravel or stone you will want something like pea gravel or larger but with smooth edges. Also you will need a retaining edge or border to contain the gravel. And even then stone will get into the grass area. If you go either pavers or stone gravel you will need to put down a black weed cloth inhibitor. Then on a bi-summer schedule you should spray a vegetation killer over it to stop surface grass and weeds from growing through.
 
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Old 07-14-14, 01:09 PM
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Thanks for the suggestion, Norm! I'm pretty much set on a round patio at this point, especially if we're going to leave the rounded edge of the deck. I think it will look nice.

As far as material goes: the more I read about pea gravel, the less inclined I am to use it. I have been researching crushed stone and think that might be a good material to use for the patio. However, since we live in an area where rainfall is heavy, I think we would buy crushed stone with a stabilizer in it.

Down the road, I think we'll just pay the $5,000+++ to have nice stone pavers installed by a professional. But for the short term, I'm looking for something that will be more affordable and easier to do on our own.

Does anybody here have experience with crushed stone for walkways/patios?
 
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Old 07-14-14, 01:19 PM
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I can't see you having to replenish stone very often, as it's not going to get pushed down and/or out like it would in a driveway. Still, gravel containment and weed control is going to make it higher maintenance than pavers would be. Sometimes, our local paver plant has odd lots, overruns, and things like that, where, if you have some flexibility in the amount you need, they can be purchased at a lesser price than from a standard production run. A lot of back doors, patios, and decks lead immediately to the lawn, so you could do as Norm suggested. You would want to dig around a bit to determine how much sand base there is, then figure how you would get rid of that and replace it with soil. The first thing to do though is evaluate how you will use that area, not always the easiest when you're starting from scratch, but may help you decide how to proceed.
 
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Old 07-14-14, 01:20 PM
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$5000 sounds about right depending on how fancy you get with pavers. However, a large part of the excavation has already been done for you by virtue of the pool being there. All you need to do is "dress" it up a bit and maybe dig a bit lower. Laying pavers is a lot of physical work but it's not complicated if you follow the rules. You can cut that cost down to less than half if you do it yourself.
 
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Old 07-14-14, 02:03 PM
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Our deck is already huge and has plenty of seating space already. We're really just looking to use the patio area as a place to put our fire pit. Maybe add some benches around the pit.

I was quoted $279 (delivery included) for 6 cubic yards of crushed limestone; I think that'd be more than enough based on my calculations. We would dig out the space at least 4-5 inches deep first, put the edging in, and lay the landscaping fabric as well. The limestone also has lime dust mixed in to make it more compact more like concrete (or so I was told). I'm leaning towards this option for now, as I think we could get the whole thing done by ourselves for $500 or so.

Like I said, I'd love to do concrete pavers down the road. Just not ready to put that kind of money into it right now, so this seems like the best short-term solution.
 
 

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