Quit laying pavers on bare dirt after my patio sank 4 inches near Tulsa

I used to just compact the ground and set stones directly, but after last spring's rain turned my whole seating area into a wavy mess, now I dig down 6 inches, add crushed rock, and tamp every layer with a hand tamper before placing anything, so has anyone else dealt with shifting paver bases in clay soil?

2 comments

2 Comments

ray3561mo ago

Man, that sinking feeling when the patio drops is the WORST. I feel for you on the Tulsa clay, that stuff is no joke and it holds water forever. We had a walkway near our fire pit do the same thing and it took me a whole weekend to dig it all out and redo it with the same base rock method you're talking about. Hand tamping every single layer is a pain in the back, but it beats redoing the whole thing next spring.

danielnelson1mo ago

Clay's the problem there, not the missing base rock. Hand tamping is fine, but I've seen folks do the full dig and rock layer and still get waves because the clay underneath keeps shifting anyway.