How to Make Your Own Backyard Patio Without Concrete

Patios are enhanced outdoor living spaces with features not available indoors, including pure sunlight, fresh air, blue sky overhead and green grass. These outdoor areas are planned and designed with as many variations as any indoor room. A wide range of flooring, furniture and decorative accessories are available with which to design the ideal patio. A poured concrete patio is only one option out of many, including brick pavers, ceramic tile and loose fill with trap rock. A loose fill patio is easy to install in a weekend and is an attractive backdrop for a backyard fire pit.

Wheelbarrow
1-inch diameter by 2-foot long pipe
Tape measure
Twine
Sledge hammer
Spray paint
Sharp spade
Compactable gravel
Metal rake
Tamper
Level
Landscape edging
Dressing rock

Instructions

- 1
  Pound the 1-inch pipe into the center of the area with the sledge hammer and tie the twine to it. Measure 10 feet of the twine for a 20-foot diameter patio and tie the can of spray paint to the end of the twine. Walking in a circle around the pipe with the twine extended, spray the ground to mark the outline of the patio.
- 2
  Cut out sod from the circular area with the spade, and dig out the soil to a depth of 4 inches.
- 3
  Lay an inch of gravel, smooth it with the metal rake, and press it down firmly with the tamper.
- 4
  Insert the landscape edging around the inside perimeter, pushing it down into the soil.
- 5
  Use the level to make sure the site is even before applying the loose fill. If it's not level, smooth the gravel some more and check it again with the level, then tamp it down once more.
- 6
  Lay 3 inches of loose fill such as trap rock, decorative granite or quartz, and rake it smooth with the metal rake.

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