# Building a brick patio/parking pad



## troyce1 (Oct 9, 2008)

I am looking to build a brick patio/parking pad that is roughly 15x20 ft. Currently drainage is an issue in this area because of the way our yard sits. I was thinking of building the patio with a 1/4 inch grade and having a buried perforated drainage pipe in the rear of it that drains into a leech container. I am hoping this will deal with the majority of our drainage problems. Our yard is about 20ft wide, and we were also planning on putting a 2ft wide flower bed on the one side 

What should we consider when doing this? From what I've read building a concrete patio, and then laying the bricks on that seems to be the best way to go. I've never done brick or concrete work, but have a pretty good understanding of the basics. We may sub out the concrete portion.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Bricks over slab have their own set of problems depending on where you are...give us that.


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## troyce1 (Oct 9, 2008)

Located in Baltimore, Maryland


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Well then, you don't have quite the temperature extremes that we do but still, you have freezing. You'll have to ensure that the drainage of the slab is complete in that no water should stand and freeze. Sometimes that's tough to ensure and so you get heaving of the brick from underneath along with cracking of the slab unless you provide for expansion joints.

Some here might point to 8-12" drainage material, then compacted crushed stone, then the brick, as opposed to a concrete 'tray' that would retain water. 

Like building a driveway or sidewalk with pavers...


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## Bondo (Dec 8, 2007)

> I was thinking of building the patio with a 1/4 inch grade and having a buried perforated drainage pipe in the rear of it that drains into a leech container.


Just how much water you talking,..??
Can't you pitch it elsewhere,..??
How about drainage piping,..??


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## troyce1 (Oct 9, 2008)

so by not doing the slab. I would have to dig up the area, compact it, put down landscaping material to prevent weeds, crushed stone, sand, and then lay the bricks? I was going to edge the patio with landscape/railroad ties (6x6).

my concern again with not having the slab and pitching the water is that it will pool on the patio itself.

As stated drainage in our yard is an issue, and small puddles tend to pool.. We will be parking cars on this patio as well as using it for entertaining. is there anything I can put under the patio in the way of piping for drainage? 

Thanks!


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## Daniel Holzman (Mar 10, 2009)

You can only drain using piping if you have some place to drain to, i.e. a location for the end of the pipe where the water level at the end of the pipe is lower than the water level under your patio/driveway. This can be established by performing a topographic survey of the property. If you don't care to perform a survey, at least you need to measure the drop in water level from the driveway to wherever you intend to drain to.

Couple points to consider. First, you may need a permit to drain to the street, check with the local building department. Second, you need to measure the water level, not the ground level, in order to determine which way the water is going to flow. From your description, you must have a high water table in your area, or else the soil drains poorly because it is clay or silt. Can't tell from your post, if the problem is surface water that collects because of poorly draining soil, a perforated pipe drain to a lower elevation will solve the problem, if the problem is high groundwater table in your area, you are not going to drain the water away using a pipe.

The best way to design your patio/driveway will depend on exactly what the cause of the water pooling is.


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## troyce1 (Oct 9, 2008)

If draining I will be draining to a leech container, buried in the ground. And the pipe will be perforated surrounded by gravel, so it will seep out as it drains also.

If the patio was pitched slightly, I was planning on just installing one at the rear, and/or making a drain "guide" out of concrete, to guide the water away from the patio and disburse it into the yard....


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## concretemasonry (Oct 10, 2006)

To drain a paver patio, you pitch the slope of the compacted base and then put in a 1" setting bed of sand. After than set the pavers, spread fine sand and vibrate with a plate vibrator.

you can away with lot for a pation, but if you are paking cars, building driveway or street, then you shoulld bo it right.

If you want the real information on how to do it right, look at a British(?) site - AKMcCormack ot something like that, but it might scare you since the international paver installations are more critical, demanding, carry higher loads and are also more common in use.

Dick


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

That's a good link, concretemasonry, the one to AJ McCormack & Sons in the UK as it describes the various options available for making a structure like the OP's one. It shows that the use of a solid concrete slab as a base for pavers, or bricks or whatever is not a good practice.

It also shows that a compacted,_ concrete-based _subbase is the way to go, much like a mud-bed in tiling ceramic or stone floors. Made of concrete - but not a solid slab. As I said in a previous post, if it's a parking structure, then you'll have to excavate down a max. 12" and then rebuild the base with compacted stone and stone dust, then sand. Adding a drainage well and a slight slope ought to take care of any water issues IMO.


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