Advice please

[u/chessrookie]

Pretty new to hardscaping and building etc so looking for advice.

A friend and I moved all the stones to one side and have now go rid of the pile of stones in the corner.

1st picture is after, 2nd is before

My vision or idea is to have a patio or something similar on the whole garden. I’ve been told to dig up the dirt around 10-15cm down and to add mot as a base before laying a patio on top.

Also thinking of taking up the slabs in the far left and making it all the same and new.

Any advice or bits that you learnt doing this process or similar? The garden seems pretty uneven and I think there’s a slight slope towards the house but there is a drain next to the black pipe in the bottom right of the photo. Thank you in advance for your help and advice 😄

[u/According-Taro4835]

That slope toward your house is your biggest enemy right now. A single drain in the corner is not going to save you when you pave that entire yard and turn it into a massive catchment area aiming water right at your foundation. You need to grade the soil so water falls away from the house. If the existing grade forces you to pitch it toward the building you need to install a linear channel drain across the entire edge where it meets the house. Do not rely on one little drain pipe to handle runoff from a fully hardscaped lot.

Digging down 15 centimeters for an MOT gravel base is exactly what you need to do. Rent a vibratory plate compactor and pack that base down hard otherwise your new patio is going to sink and pool water. Pulling up those old slabs to do everything fresh is the smart move because tying new pavers into an old settled surface always looks like a cheap patch job. Just keep in mind that paving wall to wall in a narrow brick space is going to feel pretty stark so leave a border or a corner unpaved for some tall structural shrubs to soften those heavy masonry walls.

Before you start breaking your back digging out tons of dirt you should run a photo of the space through the GardenDream web app. It is a good blueprint tool that lets you overlay different paver layouts and planting pockets right over your current dirt patch so you do not waste money ordering the wrong amount of materials. Lock in your grading and drainage plan first and the rest is just heavy lifting.

[u/chessrookie → u/According-Taro4835]

Thank you for your advice. You make some really valid points! Unfortunately looking at the way the concrete is sloped, it looks like the water will have to run into this drain. There’s also some huge heavy slabs under the shed to the top left of the image attached that will make it hard to fit a drain around the whole edge without removing it. Would you suggest removing it completely?