I need advice for two separate projects?

Question

I've got two projects that need to get done soon but I'm not sure how to go about doing so. The first project is my patio, been falling apart and the wood that they put in place when the house was built is rotted. Here are some pictures, http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4554.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4555.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4556.jpg

My question is what can I put underneath the bricks and what should I put there to replace the wood?

The second project is more complicated. My house is built into the side of a small rocky hill and after years of rain many of the rock walls are giving way. Here are some pictures of where I am focusing my attention,

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4558.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4559.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4560.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh256/ZookPS3/Sub%20Album/IMG_4561.jpg

Drainage is not too good there either as it seeps down that wall and pours into the carport below. What can I put down there so it wont all drain into the carport?

Answer 1

Your patio is an easy fix.  Simply remove all of the pavers, level the pad with base, remove the wood, and replace the pavers all of the way to the foundation.  You might want to slant the base slightly away from the foundation or put in a french drain under the pavers to move the water away from it.  Then once the pavers are in place, use filling sand between the pavers by sweeping it in.  

The way is a bit more of a problem and you may want to have it professionally evaluated.  You can rebuild the wall, provide drainage behind it to move the water away from the structure.  But erosion is my concern and code enforcement.  In my city, there are codes for both the construction of the wall and the drainage on any wall that is higher than 3 feet tall and it looks like you may need that to accommodate the garden behind where the wall is.  If you do decide to rebuild the wall yourself, you will have to cut back the earth, drop a plumb line, put in a drainage pipe and then you can use something like interlocking waffle wall or castle stone to build the wall again.

Answer 2

Your patio problems should be resolved by total removal of all current wood and replacement with green treated wood.  Cedar is not green treated but tends to last longer and look better than most woods.  I would stay away from any redwood, due to cost and it stains over time.  Today's green treated wood weathers if you allow it to, but it now is illegal for it to contain arsenic like the older stuff had.  To keep it from weathering gray if you don't want that, you wait about one year, then start spray staining it and after than applying a water repellant about twice a year.  Thompsons is good for that purpose.

I didn't look at your pics.  However, if you have some space between the back of the house and the "rock walls" you say are giving away, first choice would be to either replace the "rock" with modern blocks, which have a flange on them to keep them in place, and you sort of stair step them back into the hill as you put them up.

Depending on the amount of space you have between house and rock, I would go one of two directions:  First, if there is room, build your block retaining wall but after digging out a trench between it and your current rock--you then place drain tile, a long tube with or without holes in it, depending on your drainage capability--and route the water away from your house and carport.  Get some downhill slope, usual for such things is about 1/4" to 1/2" per ten foot section.  Make sure the opening is away from your carport and that way water makes its way away from your structures.  Second, if the house is really close to the existing rock wall, I would remove as much rock as possible, and install the retaining wall, with the drain tubing between the retaining wall and your house.  You have to bury it, though, in either case.  Drain tile between new retaining wall and existing rock wall is better solution--it will remove the water much better.  You will have to use some fill between existing rock wall and retaining wall no matter what, or eventually the existing rock will create pressure on the new retaining wall.  Make sure you put about a third at a time in, water it down to compact it, then repeat twice.  That allows the fill to settle in and not shift since it will be tighter.  Remember that gravity works both ways--directly down and in the case of into a hill, angled down as the face of the hill degrades over time and you lose its natural compaction.  That is why you will need some rough fill.

Good luck.  You have a project on this one.  Some may suggest railroad ties, but I have found them to be ugly, and unless you buy newer ones, the older ones degrade in a few years.  Plus, they are pretty smelly in hot weather.

Answer 3

In looking at your photos for both projects it seems that your problems are similar.  You have water draining toward your house/foundation.  You will need to elevate the areas that water drains toward now.  Here are my suggestions.

Patio:

1.  Remove all patio block and wood from area.

2.  Remove all soil from the area to a depth of 2-3"

3.  Place 2" of gravel in the area that you will be paving and compact with a rented vibrating compactor.  I would suggest going all the way to the house wall.

4.  Edge the area with .50 or better treated wood aprooved for ground contact, if you want to have wood edging.  I would suggest a product made for this application. (see first link).

5.  Fill with 1-1-1/2" of sand.

6.  Screed of the sand to make it level, not compacted.

7.  Lay your patio block back in tight to each other.

8.  Sweep in fine sand and water patio to make sure sand gets in between block/brick.  You may have to do this step 2-3 times to ensure a tight fit and filling the spaces.

Project 2.  You need to raise the top of the wall by laying additional courses of stone and then fill in with fresh fill so that the grade tapers away from the corner.  In looking at the photos, the narrowest part of the retaining wall drains most of the water.  You can see this by the staining and mildew growth being heaviest in this area.  Good Luck and have fun!

You may also want to consider installing a drain system to direct the water to the area you would like it to drain.  Link 2 below

By the way, that chimney really needs some attention soon.  It'll be falling down before too long.