My brother just dug this up in our backyard (yes I know I need to mow). This must be a remnant of the original house because its buried under about 4 inches of dirt and grass. We also did some poking around and we think it's MUCH bigger. I'm starting to realize why the grass never grew well here haha. I'm not sure if I want to give up a third of my lawn for this because the bricks are kinda ugly.
Any tips on what to do? If I want to uncover it all what are some efficient ways to do that? And how could I make it look better? Also I might use all the grass I dig up to put in my front yard which is pretty bare; any thoughts on that? North Florida btw
by skidiver23
3 Comments
You’re about to have a whole bunch of great garden edging and a sore back.
I think it’s cool. Now you have a patio.
If you want nice grass you have to remove it all, add in topsoil, level it and compress it, then add grass. Grass doesn’t grow well if it is over bricks.
If you want to have a patio, remove the grass, then remove and stack the bricks, level and aggressively compact the base using a play compactor, put the bricks back, edge with an interlock edging so they don’t flop over sideways, then put in polymeric sand, use the plate compactor to really get it in there and top it up with more sand, lightly blow it off with a lead blower held far away and at an acute angle, then mist the bricks with water. Then enjoy having a patio.
Can power wash the bricks before you lift them too, which will change their colour.
Personally I’d keep the patio
I got ya covered! I’ve run into this at three different houses. Coincidentally, I’m in North FL as well.
I’ve tried a couple different approaches. The absolute easiest, best way:
* Get a flat shovel and a wheel barrow. Dig out the bulk of the dirt. Don’t worry about pulling roots, getting in cracks, etc yet. Just uncover the thing and figure out how big it is. It’s sweaty, tedious work, but it goes faster than you expect.
* At least on one side, dig out beyond the edge of the patio. If there’s a downhill side, you’re in luck. We want a place for water to drain away. If you don’t want the whole patio, removing some stones will give you a low spot for drainage.
* Take a pressure washer and go to town. Don’t worry about getting it perfect the first time. There’s a lot of dirt and unless you have ideal drainage, the soil is gonna get waterlogged and start puddling.
* Wait a day, till next weekend, whatever. Pressure wash it again. Get it good and clean. Get in the cracks.
* If it needs it, let it dry and wash again.
* Get some polymeric sand. (It’s not too expensive, any hardware store will have it.) Pour it on the patio and sweep it into all the cracks. If you haven’t used this stuff before, it’s basically beach sand that will harden when it gets wet. Sorta like grout, but easier to work with.
* Spray it down with water so it sets.
* Tada! You got a patio!
I’d also suggest wrapping the patio in a boarder of some sort to keep soil from washing back in every time it rains. Most anything will work. Landscape timber, edging, stones, whatever you like.