Sultan sits on the Sultan River, on the way up the highway toward the trails and the passes. Yards step with the terrain. Water comes off the higher ground, crosses a lawn, and heads for the river or the ditch. 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 98294 · 2020 population 5,458
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 Sultan
The useful projects are the ones that make a sloped lot walkable: a gravel path that stays put, a rock wall where the bank is cutting, a drain at the top of the slope so the patio is not the creek. Forest edge is close. Alders and maples lean in, and after a wind the cleanup is limbs, not a few leaves on a patio.
Lawns exist on the benches. They need seed that can take shade at the tree line and a soil that is often thin. We do not promise a golf-course surface against the timber. Native mountain plants hold the cuts better than a bark bed that just slides downhill in January. Access for machines is usually fine along the highway side and tight once you are in the trees. We look at that before we promise a wall.
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
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.
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.
Fire pits
Set in a place the smoke can leave and the embers are not in the bark. The pit sits on the same honest base as the patio, not on four pavers in the dirt. Clearance to the house and to branches is part of the layout, not a surprise after the first fire.
More from this crew
- Patio installation across Snohomish County
- Paver installation in Sultan
- Hardscaping in Sultan
- Retaining walls in Sultan
- Landscape design in Sultan
- Patio installation in Monroe
- Patio installation in Gold Bar
- Patio installation in Index
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.
