Built a 12x16 paver patio behind my garage in Omaha and it sank 2 inches after the first freeze
So back in April I dug out this whole area behind my garage for a paver patio. Rented a plate compactor for $85, laid down about 4 inches of class 5 gravel, then an inch of sand, and set 12x12 concrete pavers in a herringbone pattern. Looked perfect all summer. Then we got that cold snap in early November and I noticed the corner near the downspout was starting to dip. By December I had a low spot you could feel with your foot, probably close to 2 inches down from where it started. My neighbor Dave, who does concrete work, came over and poked at it and said I probably didn't compact the base in lifts and the water from the gutter was getting under it. Now I'm looking at pulling up maybe 40 pavers to fix the base, and I'm wondering if I should just bite the bullet and run the downspout out further first. Has anyone dealt with a sunken corner like this, and did you redo the whole base or just patch the bad spot?
My buddy did almost the exact same thing in Papillion a couple years back, 10x14 patio off his shed, and his low spot showed up right under where his gutter dumped out. He pulled about 30 pavers and found the gravel had basically turned into soup under there. What got him was he only ran the compactor over the whole thing once at the end instead of doing it in layers, so the bottom never really locked in. He fixed the downspout first with one of those flex extensions and buried it out to the yard, then redid the base in 2 inch lifts and it hasn't moved since. If it was me I'd deal with the water first, no point fixing the base just to have it wash out again next spring.