Digging and I have reached a fragile truce—somewhere between admiration and exhaustion. I knew removing plants and hardscape would be part of the plan for our patio project, but after the liriope came up pretty easily last week, I let myself believe the rest might be smooth sailing.
Next on the list was the old brick path. Seeing a few loose bricks along the edges, I confidently told Sherry it “shouldn’t be that bad.” I clearly jinxed it, because what began as easy prying soon turned into a much bigger effort.
The first half of the path had simply been set in sand, so those rows came up quickly once I found an edge with the shovel and pried. That early momentum was deceptive, though: halfway through I literally hit concrete. At first a few good swings with the sledge and some prying freed a few bricks, but then the concrete got thicker and the work slowed.
After hours of prying, smashing and hauling the bricks to the carport where I stacked them for future use, I still faced about ten feet of concrete. My confidence waned and I considered renting a demolition hammer. Instead I gave the remaining slab a few determined swings with the sledgehammer—and to my surprise, it shattered.
That lucky break recharged me and I kept going, but the concrete grew steadily thicker the deeper I went. What started as an inch-thick layer eventually became roughly six inches where it had been used to level a more sloped area. The increasing density brought out my inner weirdness: to psych myself up I muttered odd battle cries—yes, “By the hammer of Thor!” made an appearance—and I swear a squirrel chuckled at me from the fence.
By day’s end all of the concrete had been broken up, though I postponed hauling the debris until I had the energy to move it to the dump. I tucked the rubble behind some trees for the time being.
There was still one more bit of demolition: the bottom step of an old brick staircase was about two inches too tall and needed to be removed so the new paver perimeter wouldn’t be interrupted. A second round of sledgehammering reduced that step to rubble—Thor prevailed once again.
With the liriope and most of the brick removed, it was finally time to begin laying the foundation for the patio. I followed a set of recommended patio installation steps—consulting benign how-to videos and advice from local paver installers—and gathered about $40 worth of supplies: wood stakes, a line level, mason string, and a hand tamper, plus basics I already had like gloves, a yardstick, scissors and a shovel.
Staking the perimeter was the next step. We had already outlined the patio’s shape with a hose—mostly straight with a gentle curve along the back—so I drove stakes into key corners and turns. I learned to drive them deep because I was soon digging around many of them.
Strings and a line level let me mark where the top of the pavers should sit while ensuring the patio would slope away from the house—important to prevent water from pooling near the foundation. For our layout I followed the rule of thumb: slope one inch for every four feet. Because my patio is curved and the yard already slopes toward the house, getting the strings and slopes right took longer than I expected.
I also added some cross strings across the patio—not just around the perimeter—to check diagonal slopes and provide reference points while digging. That extra grid prevented surprises in the middle that could later become low spots or bulges.
If you don’t own a line level, a small two-pack costs a few dollars and is worth it. Alternatively, you could ask a very unhelpful chihuahua to inspect your lines—Burger was more interested in chasing bugs than helping, but he provided comic relief as I worked.
The actual digging and grading involved a lot of measuring, hauling dirt, cutting roots, checking the slope, and frequent breaks to rest my back and refuel with granola bars. It took roughly a day and a half—about six hours total—to excavate to 6 3/8 inches below my guide strings. That depth leaves room for 3 inches of gravel, 1 inch of sand, and about 2 3/8 inches for the pavers so the finished surface sits flush with the surroundings.
After digging, I rechecked slopes with a level and spent a few hours tamping the soil with a hand tamper. Renting a plate compactor would have been easier, but I wanted to keep the cross strings in place as references; manual tamping worked, if labor-intensive. By the end, the base was compact and ready for gravel, sand, and pavers.
Full disclosure: this was more exhausting and time-consuming than I expected. But with the site leveled and compacted, we’re ready for the next stage: layering gravel and sand, then laying the pavers. Speaking of supplies, our new wheelbarrow tire arrived with a cautionary label that made me laugh—apparently it’s not meant for highway speeds.
If anyone wants to volunteer to help haul and level the delivered gravel and sand, I won’t say no. Otherwise, I’ll don my Thor pants and get back to it. More updates soon as we move toward laying the pavers and finishing this patio.