alexc93•19d agoProlific Poster

Shoutout to my neighbor for saving my patio project from a huge mistake

I was laying the first few pavers for a small patio in my backyard here in Phoenix last weekend, and I realized I had completely forgotten to account for drainage. I had just dumped a bunch of sand on the dirt and started leveling. My neighbor, Frank, who was out watering his plants, walked over and just said, 'Hey, you putting in a channel drain or something?' I froze. I had spent about $200 on materials already and was about to lock myself into a swampy mess. I stopped right there, scraped up the sand, and spent the rest of the afternoon digging a gentle slope away from the house and adding a gravel base. It set me back a whole day, but it saved the whole project. Has anyone else had a last-minute save from a backyard oversight like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

miles7219d ago

Frank's lucky you caught that, but @the_thomas, those weep holes are a different beast.

hunt.quinn14d ago

Yeah, @the_thomas, I read that blocked weep holes can cause serious rot fast.

the_thomas19d ago

That "gentle slope away from the house" is the real key. I once helped a friend build a raised bed right against his fence, and we totally blocked the weep holes at the bottom of the siding. He got a nasty mold problem on the inside of that wall the next winter. Had to tear the whole thing out.