ᐅ Planning a Ground-Level Patio with Slope – Any Experiences?

xMisterDx schrieb:

Yep... that full sealing of properties with stone and paving really doesn’t look good.

With heavy rain and wind coming from the “right” direction, slopes and drains don’t help much either. Especially since the water can’t flow away to the side in the corner if the wind is coming from ENE.

And kids can also put round objects on the wooden deck without everything rolling into the garden.
In midsummer, you can’t walk barefoot when the sun is beating down. In winter… well, that’s up to everyone to decide...

We often don’t see eye to eye, but this time I have to fully agree with you ;-)
They only require a little maintenance; I have never seen sanding done.
My personal experience: Bangkirai (which I don’t like anymore because of the color), thermally modified ash (great for feet and a nice brown color), IPE (that was the highlight, but very hard on tools since it’s extremely dense – we had about 75 square meters (800 square feet) of it). Next year I’m building a new deck (new house again), also with wood.
This is what IPE looked like – even after three years.

I don’t have photos of the others — but more than cleaning and oiling (we didn’t want it to gray) was never needed. The thermal wood still looked as good after eight years (+ oiling) as it did when installed. And that was on the north side of the house.

xMisterDx schrieb:

With a little maintenance, no problem.

I know a few people who have one 😉
And that's why I'm also building one out of wood, provided the budget allows.
I find this obsession with brick and gravel really terrible...

Paving does not necessarily seal completely. Our 5mm (0.2 inch) joints allow sufficient water to pass through during normal rain, and heavy rain will always naturally flow downhill. Brick pavers are also much more attractive than the gray concrete ones. In terms of cost, you obviously can’t compete with the €20 (about $22) paving stones from the hardware store, but you can with the higher-quality concrete pavers marketed as premium.

The issue with wooden decks is that they are relatively expensive and also quite complex to construct, since you need to build the substructure as well. Then there is the question of the wood type. If you exclude tropical hardwoods, most of the low-maintenance woods are ruled out.

However, I consider the substructure of a wooden deck to be more suitable for DIY than the base of a paved terrace.
Constructing a frost protection layer with sufficient thickness, compacted, and a gravel bed on top for areas over 30m² (about 320 ft²) with proper slope and precise height is much more challenging than using point foundations, beams, and anchors. This aspect somewhat balances out the higher material cost.

This is not rocket science and requires very little specialized equipment. In a pinch, you could haul everything with a wheelbarrow, but a dumper with a self-loading shovel is more practical and easier on your back. Vibrating plates can be rented almost anywhere for a low price. An important point for DIY work: mistakes are easy to spot if you have a measuring tape and a line level. Of course, a professional landscaper will hopefully get the final height right on the first try with their laser level, rather than on the fifth like an amateur. If you first set the border, you can accurately measure the final height for the area using tightly stretched strings over the border. It’s mostly hard work from there. Standard-size pavers will generally tolerate some minor inaccuracies, as the compactor will smooth everything out nicely.

When it comes to a wooden terrace, it largely depends on how you build the footing pads. Many people also lay a gravel base followed by paving slabs and supports. In that case, you still have to do about 80% of the paving groundwork.

WilderSueden schrieb:

Many people probably do gravel base planning and then lay paving slabs and a substructure. So you still have about 80% of the groundwork for the paving anyway.

Yes, that hardly saves any effort. Otherwise, your description is basically a proof of what I meant. A beam substructure with drilled point foundations requires much less heavy equipment. But I am also speculating, since so far I have only built fences and not a terrace...
I will report back in one to two years...