Cambridge Pavers - Elevated Patio Installation

outdoor living has been a growing trend in the landscape design industry for several years now the elevated patio is the signature installation for any hard scape contractor the elevated patio combines retaining walls flat work elevation changes seating walls steps and other elements such as fire pits fireplaces and even outdoor kitchens this installation requires a great deal of thought and planning steps from the house to the patio figuring finished grades and elevation changes within the installation also running conduit and PEX tubing for electrical and plumbing features if needed grading is also critical you're creating a mostly impervious surface and have to account for all the water do you simply run the pitch off the edge of the installation are you incorporating drains where and how many where will they outlet another aspect to consider is where the raised patio meets the house does it tie in to the foundation what needs to be done in terms of flashing and waterproofing to prevent any damage to the house these are all important points that must be considered when done correctly the raised patio can add valuable living space to the most unruly of backyards and provide great space for entertaining or just spending time with the family today we are going to show you how to install an elevated patio using a combination of Cambridge wall systems and Cambridge paving stones the first thing to consider is where we want our finished grade to be or in some cases we will be dealing with multiple grades if there are steps up and down within our installation how does this correlate with our entrance from the house will they be stepping right out onto our patio surface in most cases there is a step or two transitioning from the house to the patio surface typically steps are a minimum of four and a maximum of seven inches per step the tread depth should also be a minimum of 12 inches as well plan accordingly based on finished grades you are working with and determine how high our raised patio will be the next key element is the retaining wall block to build up the outer walls of our patio installation best practice is to bury one course of block minimum you should prepare a base equal to the block height and twice the depth of the block wrap this and filter fabric to ensure no migration of materials a couple of things to consider about the block and the installation our matrix wall shown here can be stacked vertical or set back this is a double sided wall which may come in handy if you are planning on any raised areas extending above the finished grade such as a seating or privacy wall for our raised application it is recommended to have the wall in a setback configuration the wall setting back every course will help prevent the installation from moving or pushing out with our matrix wall you can go from a setback configuration to a near-vertical on the same installation making it the perfect choice for this application check with your local municipalities about Heights and railing restrictions on elevated patios if railing or fencing is going to be installed at the edge of your elevated patio then this must be addressed during the construction sonotubes or sleeve it's should be installed behind the wall for fence post or railings if needed just drilling into the cap is not sufficient because it won't support the railing or the fence with our first course of wall block in take the time to plan out drainage minimum pitch for our elevated patio should be one inch fall over ten feet this will keep water moving away from the house into our desired location are you running a drainage pipe through the face of the wall are tying into existing drainage on the property if you are planning on just pitching water away and off the installation be aware this may cause erosion and undermine your wall base design a swale to carry the water away plan this now so it does not become a problem later geogrid is normally thought of for use in larger retaining walls however it's practical application here is money well spent even for walls only a couple of courses or a couple of feet high geogrid will provide extra strength to your wall installation to prevent any movement in the future let's take a look back at our geogrid video from last year the geogrid was able to support the weight of the car and can add the same integrity to your installation also consider that our raised patio is a fill situation meaning we are building a wall and backfilling as we go this lends itself to easy geogrid installation as well while on the topic of backfill use good-quality soils or fill material there should be no organic materials that will break down over time and cause settling in the installation some contractors will even use clean crushed materials because they ensure good compaction whatever you use backfill one course at a time install the geogrid and wall block then backfill and compact the matrix wall is a six inch high block depending on the compaction equipment you have you may do this in one or two lifts per course as with any wall installation directly behind the block should be a minimum of 12 inches of clean stone for a drainage layer this prevents water from building up and pushing on the wall install a pipe along the base of our wall in the clear gravel to remove any water from the installation this pipe can daylight through the wall or be tied into existing drainage as you install the final course of wall and prepare to backfill and is at this time you should lay in any conduit or PEX tubing for electrical or plumbing fixtures also if you are using surface drains such as a trench drain or Center drain lay in any hardware or piping and make your connections the final step is the installation of your cambridge paving stones with armor tech our pavers will be installed on one inch of c-33 bedding sand our paving stone installation will be even with the back of our wall caps for a clean finish oftentimes the elevated patio will come off the back of a house like a deck water proof the house using a waterproofing membrane or tar if you're going to be covering up would use a metal flashing installed drain pipe behind the wall and up against the foundation with tees for channel drains either daylighting it or running it to a dry well even with proper pitch there will still be moisture up against the foundation or side of the house this is critical to prevent issues from arising down the road a properly installed elevated patio will last and can be enjoyed for many years to come to learn more about our products go to Cambridge pavers comm and to see more videos like this visit our youtube channel

Channel: Cambridge Pavers

Views: 66,061

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Id: fSQ-HdegPzk

Length: 8min 20sec (500 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 14 2020