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. On a slope, pavers without a wall or a serious edge become a staircase that is slowly walking downhill.
Snohomish County · ZIP 98256 · 2020 population 153
A patio on a bench, a path that stays put
We build the flat. If that means a low wall first, the wall is part of the paver job, not an extra we mention later. The base is compacted rock, and the low side is restrained like it matters, because it is the side the whole field leans on.
Drives and paths in the foothills take water from above. We intercept that water so it is not running across the pavers every storm and pulling the joint sand to the bottom of the hill.
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
The paver is the skin. The base is the job: excavated, built up in compacted rock, deep enough that this climate will not heave it into waves. We pitch the surface away from the house, we restrain the edges so the field cannot spread, and we sand the joints.
A paver patio set on a couple of inches of loose gravel over clay will look perfect in September and rock underfoot by March. We do not build that, even if the other bid did.
What we look at first
- How the water leaves the surface today
- Clay, fill, or roots under the area
- Edge restraint and where the field ends
- Whether the project is a walk, a patio, or a drive, because the base changes
Joint sand
Swept and settled, then checked. Polymeric sand has a place where ants and heavy rain empty the joints, and it has a failure mode if it is installed wet or left on the face. We use it when it helps, and we wash the haze off before we leave.
Sealing
Optional. It deepens the color and can help the joints, and it is a maintenance coat every few years, not a structural need. We do not sell a sealer as what keeps the patio from settling. The base does that.
The base depth
Deeper for a drive than for a walk, and deeper on clay than the brochure drawn for a dry state. We compact in lifts. A single dumped pile of gravel, raked once, is not a base. You should not see waves after the first winter.
More from this crew
- Paver installation across the region
- Patio installation in Index
- Hardscaping in Index
- Gravel installation in Index
- Pressure washing in Index
- Paver installation in Gold Bar
- Paver 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.
