# Patio problems



## Amatex (Apr 24, 2012)

I am a new home owner and only 27 which I have learn is to young to know how to fix a lot of my issues around the house, I'm figuring some of it out but have been stumped by what to do with my patio. It is brick and has been concreted in, but the problem is that it slopes into a corner, luckily away from the house, and the two sides that are against the lawn are actually lower than the lawn. The difference in height is very slight but enough for the patio to be constantly covered with dirt and when it rains there is always a huge mess to clean up. Any suggestions to help me out would be extremely appreciated.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Without a picture were all going to have to guess.

Several simple cheap options.
Form a border by removing the top soil around it and line it with driveway cloth (also called silt screen) and back fill with some nice stones.

Form a border with bricks mortered to the outside edges, leaving some missing morter at the bottom between the bricks for water drainage.

Land scape stones as a border.


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## Amatex (Apr 24, 2012)

Sorry the pictures are not very good but hopefully you can see how there is no transition from patio to lawn. I figured that the first thing I would need to do is trench around the patio to give the water somewhere to run. Is it possible to tile over the brick or would that not be recommended? I would like to do this just so the patio is raised a little because in west texas 20 mph winds are considered a nice breeze and 40+ winds are not uncommon to last days at a time so with the patio having no height difference it is a constant battle to keep clean.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Ayuh,.... Ya can't raise the patio,...  So,... Lower the lawn....

Water flows downhill....


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## Amatex (Apr 24, 2012)

The drainage is not my main issue, it's away from the house so I'm not to worried about that. I'm just looking for suggestions to let the water drain but mainly keep the patio clean. If I can put a raised lip around it to help separate the patio from the lawn it would be ideal but I'm not sure what issues that may cause me and what the best practice would be to do this.


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

cut back the earth around that part of the patio to form a trench...install drain tile and gravel to divert water to where you want it


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## bob22 (May 28, 2008)

Bondo is right. You build a dam around your patio and people will trip over it.
Take out the brick and build it right. If you build on top of it, you have no way of knowing if the old will properly support the new. You could try and see what happens. Sometimes there is no easy way.


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## mstew (Jan 27, 2010)

If you were to cut back your lawn 12"-18"-24" and in that area dig down a couple inches and fill with say river rock to create a border then do a lawn edging on the other side of that to keep the 3 seperate (brick, boarder lawn). Yes you will have waste material but tough to avoid. Sorta like this. You can see lawn was hight than driveway sidewalk. Undermining with runoff can be a problem also.


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

Amatex said:


> *The drainage is not my main issue,* it's away from the house so I'm not to worried about that. *I'm just looking for suggestions to let the water drain but mainly keep the patio clean. * If I can put a raised lip around it to help separate the patio from the lawn it would be ideal but I'm not sure what issues that may cause me and what the best practice would be to do this.


Ayuh,.... If ya Fix the drainage issue, the dirt will go away, with the excess water...


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## mveach (Jul 1, 2010)

I have a similar problem but am looking for a product that I can over lay on the existing patio. I would like to go about an inch or two at the house and taper over eight feet to a half inch or whatever the thinnest that will hold up.


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