Permeable Patio

By Timothy Grant, Grant and Power Landscaping

The homeowners had exceeded the city's maximum non-permeable limit for their property, so in addition to building a permeable patio, the contractor also removed 100 square feet of driveway and replaced it with landscaping fortified with shredded-bark mulch and mushroom compost.

The homeowners of this Glen Ellyn, Illinois project approached Grant and Power Landscaping for a small permeable patio addition, as well as to fix huge drainage issues after the owners learned they were in a flood plain.

During inspection, the contractor discovered that the existing paver patio was sinking, and its retaining wall was failing as well. Also, the home had a serious standing water issue in the back yard due to poor grading.

 

BEFORE
At the beginning of the project, the contractor had to remove the dead tree that was causing a retaining wall to fall. Also, the existing patio was sinking and had to be torn out and replaced.

The contractor designed and installed a drainage system to handle all of the home?EUR??,,????'???s down-spouts, as well as installing a number of the pumps. Once they removed the sinking patio, they designed and installed a permeable paver patio that drains to a dry creek bed the contractor built into the side yard. According to the contractor, all of the design work had to be signed off by The Village engineer in Glen Ellyn. The project was approved and the engineer loved the approach.

Design Process
The company designer used Dynascape software to create the project design and The Village required the contractor to hire an engineer to design the schematic. After the design was completed, the company had to submit it to The Village for a permit; the entire permitting process took two months.

Workers installed more than 270 square feet of Pine Hall permeable pavers for the home?EUR??,,????'???s front patio area.

Construction
After the existing patio and retaining wall was removed, the contractor excavated for the patio, retaining wall and cut for drainage. They excavated down to 15 inches for the permeable patio base material. Using a Toro Dingo tractor, they removed more than 20 yards of earth. They laid in four and 6-inch drainage PVC and then built the new retaining wall.

Workers used a New Holland Skidsteer to lay out boulders for the dry creek bed.

For the permeable patio part of the project, they used a combination of 3/8 and 3/4-inch washed gravel base under the patio. Finally, they installed the 270 square foot Herringbone-pattern permeable patio.

The contractor used a Toro Dingo excavator to remove more than 20 yards of earth. They excavated down to 15 inches for the permeable 3/8 and 3/4-inch washed gravel base.

The Creekbed
After trenching the 175-foot creek bed using a Toro tractor, workers installed landscape fabric to keep weeds from growing, and then covered the area with granite boulders, ranging in size from four to 18 inches. The creek bed feeds into a retaining pond.

Workers installed 360 feet of 6-inch felible drain pipe from the patio area to the side yard to carry the water to the creek bed. Over that distance, the pipe drops four feet, facilitating gravity feed. They also installed PVC above ground that connects to downspouts and feeds into the creek bed as well.

Softscape
To meet the The Village's permeable surfacing requirements, the contractor removed 100 square feet of the front driveway, and replaced it with landscaping. They augmented the area with shredded-bark mulch and mushroom compost and then planted cayuga viburnum, compact American viburnum, amur maple and iroquois beauty chokeberry.

Taking two days to complete, the contractor dug out the 75-foot long channel and added more than nine tons of boulders, channeling the water into a retention area.

Over all, the contractor used more than 10 yards of washed gravel, nine tons of boulders for dry creek bed, 12 tons of outcropping stone for the retaining wall, 360 cubic feet of Draintile, 270 square feet of permeable pavers and several cubic yards of topsoil and mulch.

It took four workers three days to complete the patio construction.

Featured Product
Pine Hall Brick's English Edge pavers with beveled edges and spacer nibs are available in seven colors and two thicknesses: 2 1/4-inch for pedestrian and light vehicular and 2 3/4-inch for heavy vehicular. These colors and thicknesses can also be made in StormPave permeable clay pavers. Genuine clay pavers are freeze/thaw durable, strong (1,200 psi), colorfast and have a life expectancy of more than 100 years.

Plant list Cayuga Viburnum Compact American Viburnum Amur Maple Iroquois Beauty Chokeberry Additional Perennials Product List

Product List
?EUR??,,????'???? Pine Hall English Edge Clay Pavers
?EUR??,,????'???? 1/4 to 1/8-inch Unilock granite chips
?EUR??,,????'???? Flagstone Steppers
?EUR??,,????'???? Outcropping Stone
?EUR??,,????'???? 6 and 4-inch Draintile
?EUR??,,????'???? 6-inch PVC Pipe
?EUR??,,????'???? Landscape Fabric
?EUR??,,????'???? Shredded Bark Mulch
?EUR??,,????'???? Mushroom Compost
?EUR??,,????'???? 3/8 and 3/4-inch washed gravel
?EUR??,,????'???? Unilock Pavetech edgin
?EUR??,,????'???? 4 ?EUR??,,????'??? 18-inch Granite Boulders