Laying a Decomposed Granite Patio

When it comes to designing and creating a patio for your backyard, you have a lot of materials to choose from. Ahmad Hassan discusses the benefits of decomposed granite and shows you how to to lay out your new patio in this DIY Network video:

Decomposed granite (DG) consists of crushed rock up to 1/4″ in size all the way down to dust and is a cheaper alternative to brick or pavers. It provides a softer look and allows water to drain through, but locks together like concrete to create a stable surface for furniture.

After lightly grating the area, follow these steps to lay out your patio:

1. Create a border to contain your patio with 4×4 pressure treated posts. Use an auger bit with an electric drill so you can drill holes and remove the wood as it comes back out. Pound in two-foot lengths of rebar into the holes. You don’t have to worry about the level as you can level off the top and work with all of the imperfections underneath.

2. Lay down landscape fabric to keep weeds and grass from coming through.

3. Apply 2″ base rock layer as a foundation and water it down to settle it out and knock down the dust.

4. Add 2″ layer of decomposed granite, spread it out and flatten it out with a 8×8 tamper. Check the edges and come right beneath the board.

Be sure to buy sufficient rock material as it will settle in, and you will want to have enough to fill in the space.