Paver Patio Installation on the South Shore and in Eastern Massachusetts

Patio-specific cost drivers:

• Size and shape. Larger patios cost less per square foot because setup is spread out; curves and many corners cost more.
• Excavation and haul-off. A 400 square foot patio can mean several truckloads of soil out and gravel in.
• Slope. A flat yard is the simplest case. A sloped yard may need a raised patio held by a retaining wall, or steps down to a lower level.
• Access. A fenced backyard with a narrow gate means smaller machines and more handwork.
• Walls, fire pits, and steps are priced separately from the field pavers.
• Removing an old deck or patio, including footings, adds demolition and disposal.

Two recent examples: a 272 square foot paver patio quoted at about $20 per square foot, and an 800 square foot paver project at about $22. Fire pits and walls are priced on their own lines. Every patio carries our standard 1-year warranty.

A grill station needs its own space with clearance from the house as stated in the grill manufacturer's instructions. If you are planning a built-in grill or counter, see outdoor kitchens. A simple test: lay out the furniture you own on the lawn, then mark a line around it with a garden hose. Most people find the patio they first pictured is too small.

A patio beside the house is a large hard surface that collects rain and snowmelt. If it is flat or tips toward the house, it delivers that water straight to the foundation wall. As a basement waterproofing contractor, we see the result from the inside: a damp or leaking wall right under a newer patio.

• Pitch is built into the base, then checked with a laser level, so the slope is consistent across the whole patio.
• Height at the house. The patio stays below the door threshold and leaves the siding and sill plate exposed. Burying siding behind pavers invites rot and insects.
• Downspouts should not empty onto the patio. We route them under it in solid pipe to daylight, a dry well, or the lawn well away from the house.
• The low side needs somewhere to go: lawn, a shallow swale, or a drain.

Tie-in with our foundation and waterproofing work

If the wall beside the planned patio already leaks, fix it first. Once a patio covers that ground, exterior repairs mean lifting pavers. We handle basement waterproofing, foundation crack injection, and sump pumps ourselves, so one contractor can sequence the foundation work and the patio.

Sitting walls

Segmental wall block is dry-stacked with the caps glued down. Like the patio, it sits on compacted gravel and can move slightly with frost without cracking, so low freestanding sitting walls do not need the 4-foot frost-depth footings a mortared wall or structure would. We bury the first course, keep the courses level, and glue the caps with concrete adhesive. A wall at the edge of the patio also acts as its edge restraint.

Fire pits

• Steel liner. Wood fires get hot enough to crack concrete block, so a wood-burning pit should be built around a steel ring or insert.
• Placement. Keep the pit well away from the house, overhangs, trees, and fences, and check your town fire department's rules on recreational fires and distances before we lay it out.
• Gas fire tables need a gas line run by a licensed gas fitter. We can leave a sleeve under the pavers for it.

On a Taunton job we rebuilt a 13 by 13 foot paver fire pit surround as part of a larger paver pool deck.

For projects that combine several features, such as columns, lighting, and a kitchen, see outdoor living spaces.

We pour plain concrete patios as well: a 4-inch, 4,000 psi slab with welded wire mesh over compacted 3/4-inch crushed stone, broom-finished with tooled edges. Already have a sound concrete patio that just looks worn? Resurfacing may be cheaper than replacing it. See sidewalk and patio coatings.

1. Layout, grades, and buried systems. We stake the outline, set string lines to the finished height and pitch, and call Dig Safe. In towns on septic, we also locate the tank and leach field, because hardscape over a leach field limits access and can interfere with how it works. Your board of health can confirm local rules.
2. Excavation. For a typical patio we dig roughly 9 to 10 inches below finished grade: about 2 3/8 inches of paver, 1 inch of bedding sand, and around 6 inches of base. All topsoil and organic material comes out, and the dig extends past the patio edge so the base supports the restraint. Spoils are hauled away, and ground protection mats spare the lawn where machines travel.
3. Subgrade. We compact the native soil and add geotextile fabric where clay or silt could migrate up into the gravel.
4. Base, in lifts. Dense-graded crushed stone is placed about 4 inches at a time and compacted toward the 98 percent standard Proctor density used in CMHA specifications. CMHA allows 4 inches minimum for foot traffic on well-drained soil; we build deeper where soils or frost call for it. The pitch away from the house is set in the base and checked with a laser.
5. Bedding layer. About 1 inch of washed concrete sand is screeded between rails to an even surface and left untouched.
6. Edge restraint. PVC edging pinned with 10-inch spikes goes around open edges; sitting walls, steps, or the house form the rest.
7. Laying pattern. We lay from a straight reference line, usually parallel to the house, in the pattern you choose: herringbone, running bond, or a multi-size random pattern. String lines every few feet keep the joints straight across a large field. Borders and cuts come last.
8. Joint sand. The field is compacted with a padded plate compactor, filled with polymeric sand, compacted again, blown clean, and misted to set.
9. Sealing (optional add-on). Sealing is not part of a standard install, but it helps resist grease stains near a grill. It goes on after any efflorescence fades.

Soils change a lot across our service area. Much of the South Shore and Norfolk County is glacial till with clay pockets that drain slowly. Parts of Plymouth, Carver, and nearby towns sit on sandy outwash that drains quickly. Near the coast and marshes, the water table can be close to the surface. We dig a test area at the estimate visit when the soil is in question, because base depth and fabric depend on it.

• Frost depth. Massachusetts sets frost depth for footings at 4 feet. A paver patio does not sit on footings; it floats on a drained base, so the goal is keeping water out of that base.
• Plow and shovel piles. Snow piled at the patio edge melts by day and refreezes at night. Pile snow on the lawn side, away from the low edge.
• Winter use. A patio that is not used in winter does not need salt at all. If you keep a path open to a grill or shed, shovel early and use salt sparingly.

• Grease from grilling soaks in. Clean spills promptly with a paver degreaser; a sealer makes this much easier.
• Leaf and tannin stains from oaks and maples are common on South Shore patios. Clean them before they bake in over the summer.
• Moss and algae show up in shady corners. Improve drainage and sun where you can and clean with a product made for pavers.
• Pressure washing with a narrow tip blasts sand out of the joints. Use a wide fan tip, keep the wand moving, and re-sand afterward.
• A sunken area can be lifted, re-bedded, and relaid with the same pavers.

Our standard 1-year warranty applies: All materials and workmanship are guaranteed for one year from the date of completion. Normal color variation and hairline cracking in concrete are not defects, and the warranty does not cover pre-existing conditions, hidden site conditions, or settlement of soil we did not place.

• Large-format slabs such as 24 by 24 inch units give a modern look with fewer joints, but every high or low spot shows, and they are heavier to set.
• Multi-size random patterns read like natural stone and hide the occasional stain or chip.
• Smooth versus tumbled. Smooth faces keep chair legs level; tumbled faces look older and hide wear but rock tables slightly.
• Color blends hide dirt and leaf stains better than a single solid color.

We work in interlocking concrete pavers, bluestone, and granite. We do not currently install porcelain or permeable paver systems.