Do It Yourself Masonry: How to Build a Back Yard Patio

When I bought my house, the backyard was lush and beautiful, lacking only a suitable patio for grilling and outdoor merriment. There was a small concrete abutment to the back door, but not large enough for a proper sit-down. It did have a large flower garden filled with gravel perfect for housing a patio. I had done minor masonry projects in the past, and initially didn’t think this would be too difficult. I tossed the idea about in my head for a few days, and while at the local hardware store I saw a book entitled "Masonry and Concrete Step by Step."1 Surely this was a sign, so I purchased the book and gave it a read. Fortified with that insight into the world of stone laying, I wrote down a seven step plan to put a patio in my backyard:

1. Do Geometry - Make a quick sketch of the area, with measurements. From there simple geometry would tell me how much block, edge block, and base sand I would need.
2. Buy Stuff - Purchase materials and create a building material cache near to the patio site.
3. Excavation - Excavate the patio site and prepare it for gravel and sand.
4. Base Sand - Lay base sand and level it off.
5. Laying the Edging
6. Lay the Tiles
7. Fill in the cracks - Use fine sand to fill in the cracks.

I hoped the task would take only two days, include only a minor amount of drinking and taking the Lord's name in vain, and be only slightly Homer Simpson-esque.

Step 1: Do Geometry

Tools required in Step 1:

• Graphing paper and mechanical pencil
• Straight edge ruler
• Calculator
• Working knowledge of geometry
• Stakes, string and hammer
• Backyard!

I began Step 1 on the Friday of a three day weekend, which was fortunate because the project took me all weekend. The first thing I did was measure off an 8ft by 15ft area and mark the corners with wooden stakes. This turned out to be a mistake as the wood was not as stable a marker as I would have liked. In hindsight I should have purchased some 3ft metal stakes or even some re-bar segments2 and pounded them into the ground for more stability.

I then ran a mason's line around the markers and sat down to "do math" with my measurements. I calculated the area and volume using simple geometry, and quickly surmised that my 120ft2 area would require 120 square-foot tiles and 1440in2 of base sand advertised by the local lawn and garden purveyor.

Step 2: Buy Stuff

Tools required in Step 2:

• Pickup truck
• Shopping list
  1. Edging Blocks
  2. Tile
  3. Coarse Sand
  4. Fine Sand
  5. Gloves

When I arrived at the store, I realized I had forgotten edging material. I also learned that the tiles really only came in 16" blocks, and edging came in 19 3/4" lengths. Apparently, I was at a crossroad: do the math in my head at the store and be done with it, or go home and recalculate. So, being the impatient boor that I am, I borrowed a clerk's pen and attempted to puzzle through the problem by applying what I had learned in ninth grade Geometry.3

Several hours and two trips later, I had an impressive stockpile of masonry goods and a staked off area that would hopefully turn into a platform of recreational bliss. This made me feel like a feudal lord presiding over the construction of a castle by an army of serfs tied to the land.

An important point to note is that while doing large projects like this, it is easy to poorly forecast your material needs. This can be costly and in order to mitigate the financial loss, amateur masons should check their local hardware store's return policy. Many large stores (such as Lowe's or Home Depot) have a very generous return policy and will refund your money for what you do not use. In my case I erred on the side of caution and had about a single axle truck load worth of tile, edging, and sand left over when I finished. I would like to say that this was by design, but I just did not calculate the measurements correctly.

Step 3: Excavation

Tools required in Step 3:

• Rake
• Shovel
• Wheelbarrow
• Plastic sheeting
• Tamper4
• Sand

On Saturday morning, I began Step 3 with a shovel and a gravel rake. I found the easiest solution for excess displaced gravel was to put it into the front yard (where, in El Paso, gravel replaces grass).

Amateur operative masons without heavy equipment should take the time to determine a proper course of action to deal with excess dirt or gravel. The excavation of even a small area can yield a considerable amount of earth. In many cases this extra dirt can be used to fill holes or low spots in the yard, or even used in a compost heap. If the leftover dirt amounts to something in excess of a ton, then a truck will probably be required to move the dirt. As far as my project went, however, preparing the area went fairly quickly and it was a scant two hours before I was ready to lay plastic. My spot of choice had once been home to a concrete pad, followed by a rock garden with bushes, so it was fairly firm and required very little tamping.5 Since the area I chose to lay stone on had previously been the home to a rock garden it had plastic sheeting laid beneath the rock.6 Unless the area you are using has something similar, plan on covering the entire area with plastic sheeting. I rearranged pre-existing plastic where the sand base would lay.

Step 4: Base Sand

Tools required in Step 4:

• 2x6 lumber (enough to construct a frame around the patio site)
• Screed7
• Level8
• Drill
• 3" Wood screws9

I began step 4 by constructing a frame that was measured to be large enough to encompass the entire patio, including edging material. The frame itself was a simple affair made of 2x6 lumber and wood screws. A point worth noting is that the frame must be built larger than the patio site in order to contain the entire patio. This seems obvious, but is easy to overlook and can be a time-consuming fix, especially if you have already laid sand and edging.

Once that was in place, it was time to dump the sand. I used pre-bagged sand at $3 per bag (that advertised 2ft3 per 3ft3) for two reasons. First and foremost, I could not back my truck up to the area. Second, the bags allowed for easy calculation as to how much sand I would need. I say easy because the formulas on the inside of the folder I found at Wal-mart seemed pretty simple. I still found myself carting out excess sand later, however.

In order to level out the sand, I made equal sized notches in a 2x6 board that just fit the inside dimensions of the frame. With the notches resting on the frame, a friend and I ran the board - or, in masonry parlance, the screed.

Steps 5 & 6: Laying the Edging and the Tiles

Tools required in Steps 5 & 6:

• Rubber mallet
• Edge blocks
• Tiles
• Chisel10

When the sand was leveled off, I began laying edging blocks along the inside of the frame, using a 4ft level to keep the edge even and a rubber mallet to tap the blocks into place.

This is where I ran into the first major snag. The edge blocks I used were rough edged, bringing them to 19.75in, so when I got to the far corner of the frame there was not room for a full block.

Since I do not own a stone chisel, I improvised with a large flat head screwdriver and cut the edge blocks to fit. This worked pretty well, although it would have been a much cleaner cut with an actual chisel. After laying the edge blocks, I immediately began laying the tiles and realized within the first row of tiles that I had 12in to fill with 16in tiles. The tiles were sand-crete and not suitable for cutting (this took me two tiles to learn - a $10 lesson), so I loaded myself back into the truck and drove back to the local lawn and garden emporium.

Though I have not mentioned it, trips back to the store were a recurring theme throughout this project. At the store I purchased a couple dozen 6x6 blocks of a matching style. Back at the house, I laid them out on either side of the patio - evenly placed between the tiles and the edge blocks. It was off the cuff, but turned out well.

Step 7: Fill-in the Cracks

When all of the tiles were laid and tamped down with the rubber mallet, I began filling in the cracks between tiles and blocks with fine sand. To do this I poured out even piles from two bags and used a heavy shop broom to sweep the sand around until it filled in all of the cracks. At this point I disassembled the wood frame and raked gravel up against the edging, which both made it blend in a bit with the surroundings and prevented the edges from pushing out as the whole affair settled as I sprayed it all down with a little water.

This is when I noticed there was a depression in one corner of the patio. It wasn't obvious to look at it, but it did collect water. I decided that it would be okay like that and declared it to be a success. At the conclusion of the project I believe I spent approximately 20 hours over three days working on the patio, including the time it took to purchase materials. The project ended up costing $846.12 (just over $7/ft2), which includes lumber for the screed and frame, a tamper, a bucket of screws, and two cases of Old Milwaukee in addition to the tiles, edging, and sand.11

A few key points worth revisiting before attempting a similar project in your own backyard:

1. Sketch the area you want to build on, do the math, and have someone else look at it. This will prevent simple mistakes if (like me) you have not done any math since high school.
2. Find out what size tiles or blocks are available. This will help you to avoid doing geometry at the hardware store.
3. Check your hardware store's return policy.
4. Using the measurements from your sketch and the dimensions for the tiles or blocks, estimate how much the project will cost before starting. This bit of prevention could potentially save the unwary from a half-completed patio in the backyard.
5. Have a plan for left over dirt or gravel.
6. Start the manual labor portion of the project with plenty of time to finish, and avoid a hastily completed job.

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