Laying my first Patio on Clay soil

marcus.millimetre

Hey All,

hope all is well.

I been watching a lot of videos on you tube about laying patio etc .

the one thing i have not managed to find out is how to you prep the ground if its clay soil.

the area I am intending to patio has really dry cracked soil in the summer and really boggy clay swamp mess in the rainy seasons.

I know I cant go ahead with usual methods as i fear the patio would slide away!!!

K67

No different to any other. You need a 100mm hard-core base then lay slabs with a slight slope away from house

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hogweed

Unless you are living on a very steep hill, your patio will not slide away!! Are you in the UK?

marcus.millimetre

K67 said:

No different to any other. You need a 100mm hard-core base then lay slabs with a slight slope away from house

thank you , you make it sound so easy . so you dont think the swamp will effect the stability and the patio finished look and last ?

sorry i am not that savvy with DIY more of a computer person LOL 

IanC63 said:

A problem may arise in winter when its boggy..

You might want to add a thin blinding layer (a thin layer between the ground & the paving sub base)- loosen the clay a bit, wet it, then compact in a mix of hardcore & dry cement powder using a wacker plate. (You can stabilise wet clay with lime but is a bit messy)

Just a thought but how about a suspened deck?... drive in a few preserved wood pillars and top with nice deck wood - need only be a few inches above the ground.

thin binding layer sound interesting going to research this now.

I have seen some spectacular decking but i am on a budget and trying to get most of this done before the weather turns bad. do you think decking is cheaper than patio ?going to youtube decking installation now see what pops up. 

thanks everyone for your responses 

Marcus 

marcus.millimetre

hogweed said:

Unless you are living on a very steep hill, your patio will not slide away!! Are you in the UK?

thanks Hogweed,

there is a slight slop away from the house , not saying i am a whale but i was worried about ground condition under the patio not being able to support weighting loads.

thanks 

Marcus 

Mary370

There is a lot more upkeep with wooden decking, plus there is the problem of what can be found living under it!

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K67

I  do make it sound easy but it's OH who does the work and has building know how! I have found the website paving expert useful. 
Your patch is probably waterlogged as there is nowhere for the water to go or soak in. If you use slabs the water will run on the surface hopefully and drain into the garden. You could always run a gully along the bottom edge for the water to collect, even better if you can connect into an existing drain or dig a soakway.