The Paving Blog

Typically, any patio - in fact, any surface at all, from Driveways to pathways - should have some sort of slope, obviously away from a home or structure, to insure that water does not collect.  We’ve all seen puddles.  Heck, some of us loved them as kids………lol, I know I sure did. The vandalism aspects alone appealed top a young rascal who loved jumping in them and splashing anyone nearby!

But there are many sad souls who don;t share this opinion of the righteousness of puddles. In fact, the presence of standing water ion these surfaces is never good, the truth is.  When water puddles near a house, it can soak the foundation and thereby cause rotting in the wood above it.  Continued saturation can mean replacing an outrageous amount of construction. Puddling near the middle of a patio or driveway can mean people tracking wet shoes into a house and spoiling rugs and carpeting.

So, here we have a dilemma.  The work is finished already, the contractor paid and gone for years.  Now what? How do we retroactively address a flaw or some upset in our water-draining systems?

For many, scoring 1/4″ deep lines with a masonry blade on a skill saw can sure the worst of those problems.  Masonry blades are now pretty cheap and readily available at any retail hardware store. Make sure the cut goes in  downward direction, towards some point off the drive. More than one line is usually called for and, actually, these can be somewhat artfully arranged.

Another method is a bit more drastic:  it involves installing a drain and running pipe out of the middle of the surface.  Naturally, this means cutting the surface entirely and inserting the desired drain pipe.  However, the smaller the area involved the less obvious the repair will be. Nevertheless, there are excellent drain systems available and the drain itself does not have to be unattractive.

The best system is perfect to begin with. A flat, one or two percent slope generally takes care of all water issues.  But when there are flaws, such as indicated above, these are a couple of ways of handling it.