Index is a town of 153 people in the Skykomish valley, tucked under steep, rocky walls. Rain comes down those walls in a hurry. Yards are small clearings, and the mountain is the neighbor on every side. The patio and the wall that creates it are one project. Pricing the floor without the wall is how the bid looks cheap and the change order arrives.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98256 · 2020 population 153
Level a place to sit on a lot that is not level
We cut a bench or we build one, drain the hill above it, and then pave the flat. Water from the slope is intercepted so the patio is not the creek. Furniture is not asked to sit on a surface that falls an inch a foot just because the lot does.
Rock and gravel around the patio fit these lots better than a bark bed that slides. We plan that edge while the machine is there.
The ground in Index
There is no subdivision playbook here. Access can be a single lane, the soil is thin over rock, and a “backyard” may be forty feet of level ground before the timber starts. Intense runoff is the design constraint. A wall has to be heavy enough to stay put, and a drain has to daylight somewhere that does not wash out the next switchback.
We keep planting short and native. Anything that needs summer water and a gardener will lose. Gravel and hardscape earn their place because they stay usable when the ground is soaked. Pruning and cleanup are how you keep the forest from taking the roof, the line of sight on the drive, and the ditch that is supposed to carry the runoff.
How we do the work
A patio here is a roof at ground level. It has to shed water, it has to sit on rock instead of clay, and it has to meet the door without holding a puddle at the threshold. We build in pavers most of the time because a paver field can be lifted and reset. A cracked slab is a demolition.
We talk about furniture, the grill, and the way you actually walk out before we draw a rectangle that looks big on paper and tips water at the house.
What we look at first
- The door threshold and which way the yard falls
- Downspouts landing in the patio area
- How many people, and whether there is a fire pit or a cover
- Access for excavation
What it costs more to ignore
Drainage and the base. They are the unphotogenic half of the invoice. Cutting them is how a patio gets rebuilt. We would rather build a smaller floor on a real base than a big one on clay.
At the door
The patio meets the threshold with a step that makes sense and a surface that falls away. We do not bury the siding or the weep screed to make the patio feel flush. That is a rot detail, and we will argue with you about it.
Furniture first
We size the floor to the table you own, the grill lid that has to open, and the walk around them. A large empty patio with the table in a puddle is a bad large patio. Bring the measurements.
More from this crew
- Patio installation across Snohomish County
- Paver installation in Index
- Hardscaping in Index
- Retaining walls in Index
- Landscape design in Index
- Patio installation in Gold Bar
- Patio installation in Sultan
Sources for the climate and the water
- USDA plant hardiness map for choosing plants that can take a Snohomish County winter.
- EPA WaterSense on watering less once a lawn or a new planting is established.
- EPA Soak Up the Rain on keeping roof and yard water from becoming someone else’s problem.
