Mark It First
Outline your patio with marking paint, then add 6 inches on every side for working room and edge restraint. Call 811 before you dig — free and legally required in most areas.
Dig to Depth
Excavate 7–9 inches for a standard patio (more for driveways). Keep the sides vertical and the bottom roughly level — the base layers will fine-tune the grade.
Set Your Slope Now
Establish a ¼-inch-per-foot fall away from the house during excavation. Use a string line and line level. Everything you build follows this grade, so get it right while it's easy.
Deal With Bad Soil
Hit soft, spongy, or organic soil? Dig it out and replace it with compacted road base. Building on mush is the #1 cause of settling patios.
Pro tips from the field
- Spray your outline, then step back and look from an upstairs window — you'll spot shape problems you can't see at ground level.
- Keep excavated soil on a tarp, not the lawn. A soil pile kills grass in about three days.
- Dig in dry weather. Wet clay doubles your labor and ruins your grade.
Common questions
How deep do you dig for pavers?
7–9 inches for patios: base + sand + paver thickness. Call 811 first.