Setup a slope for water to drain with string lines for your clients to see what their finished hardscape surface will look like. Show off how good you area at laying out a landscaping project and impress them with this crucial initial step to get them excited for their finished install. How to use string lines to level the ground.
A video detailing how to achieve slopes for patios walkways and other hard and soft landscape surfaces. Part of my hardscaping training series.
Check out our online course for Site Setup: https://hardscapecanada.thinkific.com/courses/siteprep
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31 Comments
how to do line pavers up perfectly with existing concrete if it is on a slope
Thank you. That was very helpful.
good lord man, use a level for uneven terrain. God knows how long those lines took on that walkway. If you cant make a cohesive path to combat grade with a simple 6 foot level, then you probably shouldn't be doing it
I'm a homeowner that hasn't ever needed to do something like this until now. I understand the string and slope, but then do you build up the material to the string? How do you get the finished product to match the string, in other words.
Do I have to slope the dirt bottom or can I just slope the gravel?
Thanks
Just wanted to say thank you for a quick, simple explanation! I have been staring at my excavated space for hours trying to figure out the appropriate slope!
Thanks for the vid. Question: once the string slopes are set up , do you set the edging at slope using a tape measure and then use the edging as a template?
So now you backfill all the way up to the string?
Great video, you know your stuff. This may help with the teaching; 1st loop you created is a cow hitch (aka larks head). 2nd was a clove hitch.
Keep up the good work.
Not sure why anyone said this is complicated? It’s middle school algebra dude. Thank you for the brief, to the point video.
But, what if you want the patio to be at ground level? You just measure from your dig? In your video, so I understand correctly, the entire walkway or patio you showed is going to be raised to that height? The patio is going to be elevated above the driveway and the slope is going to runoff on the driveway?
Sorry but this stressed me out. 😬
I have a slope that goes towards my house and a sunroom that was built with almost no foundation. The downhill is pretty steep towards my house. I moved in and never realized it and had water issues. So it was torn down and rebuilt, but no one still mentioned that it was because the slope went down towards my house. Of course, this meant I still had water issues as it wasn't solved. How do I stop water coming down into my sunroom? How do I build up a wall to block it? How do I make sure there's a drain and no water stands still on the flat surface. How do I even seal the foundation of the sunroom? Currently there's nothing sealing it. It's foundation, paper, and the siding boards. Is there supposed to be a lock of some sort to keep out bugs and water? I have no idea what to do. I'm young and just bought my first home, so I have no idea how to fix it
good work mate
Genius
Am thinking of building pavers over existing concrete. The concrete is already sloped properly. Should i set up a slope for that too?
WTF
damn dude you know some stuff
Hello i have a 70'x14' i need to have a 1.5% slope on the 14' is actually 13,9'
Converting to inches is 165" then to 1 percent is 1.65 what i dont know is how to read that in my tape meter,
I did the string level sample green orange pink and thats how i figure it.
But dont know how to read 2.475" in my tape meter
Thanks
Raising 1.44" at 10 feet gives you a very different slope than raising 1.44" at 100'.
What schooling teaches the basics for doing projects like these and retaining walls? Say for someone who wants to do this on the side or even just for their own home projects? My HS classes over a decade ago went over some of this, and the geometry and trig was so long ago I forgot it all, and at the time I wasn’t interested in it much. Is it civil engineering or landscaping, or landscape architecture?
Do you do the same for steps on stairs, or just big chunks of steps,
What's the minimum slope for a paver patio (4×8 holland pavers)?
Wow! Most of you guys are genius because I’m still lost lol
Thanks for this. A couple questions:
1) How would you go about setting up string lines (number of string lines as well as placement) for an odd shaped patio with curved edges?
2) For the path that I am wanting to build next to the patio, do I need to have separate/dedicated string lines for those that don't cross-over or mix with the patio string lines?
Thank you 🙏 for sharing
This is really helpful. I have a question. My house is on a hill. If you are looking at the house, the top of the hill is on the left side, and it slopes towards the right. We want to have the dirt around our foundation slope away from the home to prevent moisture issues. How would you address this with the strings? Would you have one sting with a 1% slope moving out from the house and another 1% slope moving down the hill as well?
Excellent! (Like the clove hitch)
Thanks
Love the slope calculation.. thanks a lot!