Grey paver patio off a sliding door, relaid flat and hosed down at the end of the day, the lawn still muddy where the crew worked

Winter Park, Florida

A sunken paver patio, lifted and relaid level

The patio had settled along the house and weeds had taken every joint. Same pavers, reset on a firm base, in one day.

Pavers: Same ones, relaid
Base: Reset and compacted
On site: One day
Location: Winter Park, FL

The brief

A patio that had stopped being flat

A back patio off the sliding door: concrete pavers in a running bond, settled along the house, joints washed out, and weeds coming through across the whole field.

When the pavers came up, the reason showed itself: they had been installed upside down. A new paver on top of the old base would have sunk the same way. The job was to lift every paver, rebuild what they sat on, and put the same pavers back level, so the repair disappears into the patio instead of announcing itself.

The work

Lift, reset, relay

Every photograph is from this job. The before and during frames are cut from the owner's video on the day; the finished shot was taken at dusk, still wet from the hose-down.

Before

Weeds in every joint.

Close view of grey concrete pavers with weeds growing from every joint — BeforeThe joints had turned into a garden.

The whole paver patio against a white vinyl fence, joints washed out and weedy across the field — BeforeThe whole field, not one bad spot.

Paver patio at the sliding door, the run along the house visibly lower than the rest — BeforeAt the door, where the settling was worst.

During

The pavers came up and went against the fence. The old bedding came out, the base was reset and compacted, and fresh bedding sand was screeded flat before the relay started from the house outward.

The settled section lifted, pavers removed and the old base exposed — DuringLifted. The base is the job, not the paver.

Pavers stacked against the fence with a plate compactor sitting on the exposed base — DuringStacked, and the compactor on the base.

Fresh bedding sand screeded flat across the patio, the relay of the same pavers started from the house — DuringFresh bedding sand, screeded flat, relay started.

After

The same pavers, back level with the rest, right side up this time. Photographed at the end of the day with the tools still out and the lawn muddy from the work.

The relaid paver patio off the sliding door, flat and wet from a hose-down, a hose and bucket still on the lawn — AfterLevel again. Same pavers, nothing new.

Materials

What went in

PaversThe client's own, relaid
New paversNone
Crushed baseAbout one yard, added and compacted
Bedding sandFresh, screeded
SealingNot part of this job
Time on siteOne day

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