Patio, Deck, or something else?

6 years ago

last modified: 6 years ago

We have this spot that's been a sore since we bought the house -- the previous owners threw some big, sharp, uncomfortable marble chips (I think) on it and we've never found a good use for it. We want this to be a nice seating area but I'm not sure what to do.

- Put in a floating deck? We'd have to keep it 12 inches or lower, and I don't know how to level out some areas. There is a concrete slab at the house that uneven and angled away from the house. I'd want to use deck blocks but how would you level them if you can't level the ground?

- Put in a pea gravel patio? Would I have to dig out the crappy marble chips and get right to the ground and start over? Is there a world in which I could lay landscape fabric right over the marble chips and pea gravel over that?

(disregard the mulch pile, we're moving that ...

- The rest of our yard is fake turf, do we just go with more of that? again, do we have to get up all the rock? :(

- Something else?? Help!!

- Also what is that drain and whatever is sticking up next to it? Do I need to keep those uncovered?

A few other notes that might be helpful -

- Cost is somewhat of a factor, mostly in that we'd want to be able to do the work ourselves. I priced out materials for a floating deck and with composite boards, it came to about 1500. Pea gravel would obviously be way less. If there is a necessary solution that's way more we'll consider it but don't want to spend many thousands.

- We don't have kids or dogs, and it's not a pathway to anything else, it's a nook, so I'm not worried about some of the issues of pea gravel like pets kicking it up or it being hard to haul things over.

- We're in Colorado so we do get some rain and snow, but no trees on that side of the house/yard so not a lot of leaves to deal with in the fall.

This was my general deck plan, with the blocks being deck blocks, 2x6 joists 16" oc and trex composite boards and one step up from some pavers at the edge of existing yard. Is this remotely feasible?

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Comments (4)

PRO
Yardvaark
6 years ago
There is a yard drain. You need to dig down and see if the cleanout is connected to it. If these are functioning items (not intentionally abandoned) they need to remain clear to the surface.

The concrete is in bad shape, plus being multiple slabs that are mismatched. I would bust it out with a heavy sledge hammer and get rid of it. Very low cost if you do the work and the hauling. Next, I would add a new slab that is either concrete or pavers. Either option is a DIY possible project, as this is small and simple. Explore YouTube videos on the subjects to familiarize yourself with the basics of each method.

You probably need to get rid of a bunch of rocks. Someone on Craigs or FB Marketplace might be interested in taking them off your hands for the work of hauling.
Caitlin Kleiboer thanked Yardvaark
Caitlin Kleiboer
Original Author
6 years ago
Thank you Yardvaark. With those slabs being right up to the house, do I need to worry about the house there? There is no basement under this area -- that window you see is to an unfinished storage room in the basement. We'll definitely call and get utilities marked as I'm certain there is electricity running under there somewhere.
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Caitlin Kleiboer
Original Author
6 years ago
The plot thickens -- the yard drain is connected, i dug out the rocks for the first 4 feet or so of it's run. It must run all the way under the yard, I found the cleanout out by the alley end of our garage directly opposite the images above. I'm guessing one should not put a concrete slab over a yard drain?
PRO
Yardvaark
6 years ago
Right, you would not put a slab over the drain or clean out, as in cover over. But you could extend the slab over them by bringing them both flush to the slab surface. It wouldn't make sense to have a yard drain in the slab, though, unless the slab was draining to it ... like a shower would do. But one wouldn't do that unless it was necessary. Typically, a slab would sheet drain away from the building and drainage would be picked up by the surrounding yard. Assess the piping in this area and figure if it would make sense to reroute it, getting it from under the slab, if in fact it would end up that way. Find out all what is draining though these pipes.

Is the clean-out in the picture for house sanitary sewer plumbing -- or for yard drain plumbing?