Paver patio collects water

Jump to latest Follow Reply
mitch08

mitch08

0
Jun 30, 2008
405
Suffolk County, NY
Hey all,

Not sure if this is the correct place to ask this question but since pavers are so common around pools, I think people here might have some good advice.

I recently had another paver patio put in on the far side of our pool pavers to match it. Its about 300sq ft, round, with a firepit built in.

I thought the guy did a decent job, but now when it rains I see he didn't pitch the patio at all. Its too level. And he used 3" to 4" cement underneath instead of crushed stone so there is no drainage.

So basically in a hard rain, I get about 4 inches of water sitting on top of the pavers that I need to sweep off into the grass next to it. And its a P.I.T.A cause it mostly just flows back to the center so it takes about 30 minutes to sweep it out of there.

Is there a quick and easy way to create drainage without ruining the look of the patio?
I need to do this before winter so the water doesnt get on there and freeze, screwing it all up :hammer:
 
I don't see how you can create drainage now....easily...without drilling 100's of little holes through the pavers and underlying concrete....are the pavers mortared to the concrete? Or is the construction concrete then sand then pavers? If you can get the Pavers up easily and then rent a concrete saw, saw a little trench from center of problem area to grass, install drain, reinstall pavers that should work, but you'll see the drain cover in the patio.

He won't come fix it?
 
Not allowing for drainage on any masonry surface is a huge mistake.

I suggest you post this question on johnbridge.com. Hundreds of tile experts on there and they may give you an innovative answer. If they come up with something, post back and let us all know.

They will want a pic.
 
harleysilo said:
I don't see how you can create drainage now....easily...without drilling 100's of little holes through the pavers and underlying concrete....are the pavers mortared to the concrete? Or is the construction concrete then sand then pavers? If you can get the Pavers up easily and then rent a concrete saw, saw a little trench from center of problem area to grass, install drain, reinstall pavers that should work, but you'll see the drain cover in the patio.

He won't come fix it?
Click to expand...

Thanks :)

Yes its construction concrete, then sand, and then pavers. Only the edge is mortared down. Everything else was just laid down and then sand in joints. Im so ****** I let him use concrete. I always have things done with crushed stone. But I let him talk me into concrete by saying it would never sink and blah blah blah... And I wasnt thinking drainage at all... UGH.

I dont mind a drain cover. Your idea might work. But I want to have him come do it... I always pay the majority of the money at the end, but I thought it looked so great and gave him the cashola. Now I have no loverage... So Ill try getting the guy to come back... Thanks again!
 
duraleigh said:
Not allowing for drainage on any masonry surface is a huge mistake.

I suggest you post this question on johnbridge.com. Hundreds of tile experts on there and they may give you an innovative answer. If they come up with something, post back and let us all know.

They will want a pic.
Click to expand...

I will definitely check out that website. And Ill post a pic there and here asap.

Thanks!!!
 
Here are some pics. The water builds up between the back of the firepit and the sitting wall.

This first pic was last year before anything was done:
IMAG0101.jpg


This is the new section. Built to look like it was always there. Its the top right of the pool by the steps:

IMAG0338.jpg


Thanks again!!!!!
 
Melt In The Sun said:
I like harleysilo's idea. Nice looking patio too! Is that a wood fire pit or gas?
Click to expand...

Thanks. Its wood. I have gas inside so I wanted the smell and fun of wood... Im looking foward to smores with my daugher :)
I have no compaints at all about the work he did. It looks really nice. Especially with the pool open now. The curves match the pool really well.

Only problem is that when it rains, we have a 2nd kiddy pool. ROFL!!!

If the only issue is having to sweep off water or pump off water during a hard rain, I can probably live with it for a while.
I just dont want any damage to it...
 
If he or you do the drain route consider the slope of yard to the point that you would drain the water. From top of drain to say bottom of pipe will be X inches, then the pipe needs to slope X inches per foot times X feet. You don't want stagnant water in the pipe. Test any drain with a hose before competition. Biggest issue is patio won't really be slopped to drain either....sorry for this issue.
 

Enjoying this content?

Support TFP with a donation.

Give Support
duraleigh said:
Good pics. Where does the water accumulate? is it really 4 inches? Is that wall perfectly level at the base?
Click to expand...

Now that you mention it, 4 inches does seem like a lot. Its definitely not less than 2 inches though.
It accumulates between the fire pit and the wall. Its a LOT.

On a positive note the guy that did it just called me and said he would stop by tomorrow. He said he would take care of it.
So Im relieved about that.

Thanks everyone for your help and advice!!!!
 
Glad to hear it! :party:

I like that patio even more now that I know you have a wood pit...gas is all anyone seems to put in now, and as cool as they look, they just don't have the "lets cook stuff while we drink beer, and kids don't touch it cause it'll burn ya" fun that a real fire does.
 
What's inside the fire pit? You could rent a "mole" or use an equivalent method to run some 2" PVC from a hole in the grass underneath the pavers in the concrete to a hole in the middle of the pit. Once you have the 2" PVC pipe in the middle of the fire pit, you will then know where the pipe runs underneath the pavers. Mark this line using a snap line. Remove a few pavers above where the pipe runs, sledgehammer out a hole above the pipe run and connect a drain to the pipe that will be just below the level of the pavers near the perimeter of the outside of the fire pit. Then add pea gravel around the drain connection to the level of the concrete slab, add a bit of sand, and cut and reseat the pavers to fit around the drain grid. From the hole in the grass, trench and run PVC pipe away from the pavers toward a low spot in the yard. You could use some perforated pipe (usually 3 or 4") to drain the water into the ground under the lawn if need be, just orient the holes in the pipe toward the bottom. This should be a reasonably DIY project. The hardest part is running the PVC under the paver slab which is why I recommended renting a hydrolic mole. However, if you can't locate one for rent, you could do this the old-fashioned, labor intensive way (e.g. with a diagonalt cut of 2" PVC and sledgehammer). There are plenty of sites on the web that describe running pipe under driveways. These would be a good source of info regarding how to do the job without having to remove a slice of slab and pavers all the way to the lawn.
 
BTW, if the low point (e.g. the place where the maximal amount of water pools) is near the back wall, then even easier. Dig a hole behind the wall in the dirt, run 2" PVC under the walll and below the slab and do as said above. You just need a low point in the yard not too far from the firepit area to run the drainage pipe to.
 
Melt In The Sun said:
Glad to hear it! :party:

I like that patio even more now that I know you have a wood pit...gas is all anyone seems to put in now, and as cool as they look, they just don't have the "lets cook stuff while we drink beer, and kids don't touch it cause it'll burn ya" fun that a real fire does.
Click to expand...

LOL! Thats my reasoning exactly :)
 
CraigMW said:
What's inside the fire pit? You could rent a "mole" or use an equivalent method to run some 2" PVC from a hole in the grass underneath the pavers in the concrete to a hole in the middle of the pit. Once you have the 2" PVC pipe in the middle of the fire pit, you will then know where the pipe runs underneath the pavers. Mark this line using a snap line. Remove a few pavers above where the pipe runs, sledgehammer out a hole above the pipe run and connect a drain to the pipe that will be just below the level of the pavers near the perimeter of the outside of the fire pit. Then add pea gravel around the drain connection to the level of the concrete slab, add a bit of sand, and cut and reseat the pavers to fit around the drain grid. From the hole in the grass, trench and run PVC pipe away from the pavers toward a low spot in the yard. You could use some perforated pipe (usually 3 or 4") to drain the water into the ground under the lawn if need be, just orient the holes in the pipe toward the bottom. This should be a reasonably DIY project. The hardest part is running the PVC under the paver slab which is why I recommended renting a hydrolic mole. However, if you can't locate one for rent, you could do this the old-fashioned, labor intensive way (e.g. with a diagonalt cut of 2" PVC and sledgehammer). There are plenty of sites on the web that describe running pipe under driveways. These would be a good source of info regarding how to do the job without having to remove a slice of slab and pavers all the way to the lawn.
Click to expand...

Right now the firepit basically just has lots of gravel. Other than that, just hooks for a shelf. So your idea might be a very good one.
That definitely sounds like it could be a good DIY project for somebody that know what they are doing. Unfortunately I am not that somebody :)

Thanks a LOT for the advice!!!! I am talking to my paver guy about it.
 
Re: Paver patio collects water - update and question

Hey all,

So my guy finally came back about 2 weeks ago to fix the drainage issue.
What he did was incredibly simple and it worked.

He pulled up some old pavers in the lowest spot he could find. Where the water always came to.
Drilled a large hole about 3.5' down. Put in a 4" PVC pipe. Repaired the concrete.
cemented a drain onto the 4" pipe. Put pavers back and new sand to lock them in.

It has rained an enormous amount in the last 2 weeks here. And water has not been collecting at all. It is working perfectly which he told me it would.

However, is putting water a few feet under the cement patio eventually going to cause problems? That is now my concern.
If the ground under the patio is collecting all the water, won't it eventually start sinking the cement base??

Its a 300 sq ft patio that is all 1 piece of cement with pavers on top. Not sure if this could affect it or not.

Thanks again for all the help!!!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread Status
Hello , This thread has been inactive for over 60 days. New postings here are unlikely to be seen or responded to by other members. For better visibility, consider Starting A New Thread.
Top Bottom
Back
Jump to latest Follow Reply