Do any of you guys have a ground level deck?

[THE BIG SITT]

Our concrete patio sucks, but I don't think I could afford to have it pulled up, and then have a larger patio poured. So I thought maybe a ground level deck, since our home is only ~4" up from the concrete patio. Any suggestions?

 

[Outlaw]

Sledge hammer and a wheel barrow

 

[femurphy77]

Sledge hammer and a wheel barrow

I had neighbors that did this to a two car driveway 60' long and 100' of sidewalk, then they mixed a poured several pallet loads of sacrete for the replacement.

Bunch of lazy Mexicans!

 

[Outlaw]

Those builder patios aren't very thick so it shouldn't be too bad at all.

Case of beer and a couple buddies that wanna blow off some steam. Take turns and you'll have it done in a few hours.

Lay 6" of 53s and set some pavers. Good to go

 

[lovemachine]

Yep, just take a sledgehammer, and pound away.

I'm almost in the same situation. The back door to my house is right at ground level. And I would love to have a deck or a patio. I don't have anything right now, step outside, and its all grass.

A deck would just look weird, so that leaves the patio option. I don't want to spend the money on concrete, because it's expensive and it cracks. Just like my new concrete slab driveway..
So, my plan is to shop around for paver bricks. I'm going to lay that down in a nice pattern, and make my own patio. That way, when the ground moves/shifts, I can easily fix the pavers that have risen up.

Plus I can always add to it if I ever want to have a larger patio.

 

[Prometheus]

Yep, just take a sledgehammer, and pound away.

I'm almost in the same situation. The back door to my house is right at ground level. And I would love to have a deck or a patio. I don't have anything right now, step outside, and its all grass.

A deck would just look weird, so that leaves the patio option. I don't want to spend the money on concrete, because it's expensive and it cracks. Just like my new concrete slab driveway..
So, my plan is to shop around for paver bricks. I'm going to lay that down in a nice pattern, and make my own patio. That way, when the ground moves/shifts, I can easily fix the pavers that have risen up.

Plus I can always add to it if I ever want to have a larger patio.

At my last house we were in the same situation as lovemachine.

ALmost a walk out the sliding glass door.

When we bought their were about a dozen 12" pavers out the back door. Completely useless.

I was debting between poured concrete and a wood deck.

Ultimately I was in Menards and they had 50% off some 18" 'wet style' concrete pavers. Regularly $4. I made a 18' by 30' patio. I put down 2" of rock and then leveling sand. with a grass edging thing around the edge.

Very cool looking. I also was hoping since it wasn't "permanent" I wouldn't get dinged on tax assessment.

4 years later the tax whores showed up at my door with an overhead satellite picture demanding to know about my "new concrete patio". I explained it was just pavers yada yada... I also didn't use locking sand, so they weren't "fixed" into place.

Anyway, they mesaured it and said teh supervisor would have to make the determination... uh-huh, because it's not like the regulations aren't crystal clear about loose pavers.

I think the property thieves assessed it as a patio ultimately but I sold the house right after that and it wasn't my problem at that point.

pavers held up awesome for 4 years. I also bought a couple extra and stored them in the shed, in case one broke. Never did.

 

[chezuki]

I do ok, but my decks not quit to ground level.

 

[femurphy77]

I do ok, but my decks not quit to ground level.

 

[THE BIG SITT]

At my last house we were in the same situation as lovemachine.

ALmost a walk out the sliding glass door.

When we bought their were about a dozen 12" pavers out the back door. Completely useless.

I was debting between poured concrete and a wood deck.

Ultimately I was in Menards and they had 50% off some 18" 'wet style' concrete pavers. Regularly $4. I made a 18' by 30' patio. I put down 2" of rock and then leveling sand. with a grass edging thing around the edge.

Very cool looking. I also was hoping since it wasn't "permanent" I wouldn't get dinged on tax assessment.

4 years later the tax whores showed up at my door with an overhead satellite picture demanding to know about my "new concrete patio". I explained it was just pavers yada yada... I also didn't use locking sand, so they weren't "fixed" into place.

Anyway, they mesaured it and said teh supervisor would have to make the determination... uh-huh, because it's not like the regulations aren't crystal clear about loose pavers.

I think the property thieves assessed it as a patio ultimately but I sold the house right after that and it wasn't my problem at that point.

pavers held up awesome for 4 years. I also bought a couple extra and stored them in the shed, in case one broke. Never did.

Mind posting a link to the thing you used around the edge?

 

[DRob]

The house floor is up 4" where you step out onto the patio? I would leave the patio and just deck over it. Treated 2x4s laid flat plus 5/4 decking will still give you a slight step down to the deck. I see no reason to bust up the patio.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Only when I lay down. Or when I'm really excited about push ups.

 

[CHCRandy]

The house floor is up 4" where you step out onto the patio? I would leave the patio and just deck over it. Treated 2x4s laid flat plus 5/4 decking will still give you a slight step down to the deck. I see no reason to bust up the patio.

That would be a great low budget option. Would look just like a deck......maybe fasten the 2x4's to concrete with some Tapcons.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Don't deck over the concrete. The concrete will draw moisture from the ground, the bottom of the deck will absorb it. Your deck boards will either rot quickly or mold.

Dirty Steve

 

[Outlaw]

Don't deck over the concrete. The concrete will draw moisture from the ground, the bottom of the deck will absorb it. Your deck boards will either rot quickly or mold.

Dirty Steve

+1 on this. Very bad idea to lay wood onto concrete in an exposed area.

 

[mtk469]

Genova makes a PVC Deck ( Genovations ) that can be layed directly over concrete or over a wood structure. Multiple wood grain color options. Installs similar to siding. Have seen it installed screwed directly to an existing pad. Just a thought.
Genovations Decking - Low Maintenance Decking

 

[451_Detonics]

my new deck was built a bit above ground level....

View attachment 37506

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

My mom's house had a small concrete patio that she wanted to make "bigger" and she also didn't have the room for a wooden deck.

I ended up digging up the sod around the patio, for about four feet in two directions, plus a low step off one side. I added a layer of sand, tamped it with a home-made tamper and placed paving bricks purchased at Mennards. We even got a high quality remnant of a thick indoor/outdoor carpet and cut that to just cover the concrete part, leaving the brick exposed and it looks very nice, even after 5 years or so.

Don't deck over the concrete. The concrete will draw moisture from the ground, the bottom of the deck will absorb it. Your deck boards will either rot quickly or mold.

Dirty Steve

In the front of my mom's house, my little brother laid pressure treated 2x4s down on the sidewalk and front porch, fastening two rows of them flat with drilled holes and lag bolts with lead expanders. Then he cut more 2x4s and nailed them to the "frame" pieces. He essentially covered her walk and porch with the wood, and it's been there for more than 30 years now.

 

[amboy49]

The only problem with leaving the existing concrete patio "slab" is what happened to me. Eventually, the slab heaved to the point where it was draining water back toward the house and that resulted in the sill plate rotting out ! !

i tried to take the slab out by breaking it up, first with a sledge hammer and then by renting an electric jackhammer from a tool rental supply store. Discovered the contractor used ALL of the left over concrete when he built the block foundation by putting it into the concrete patio slab. Finally had to hire a guy with a backhoe to come in and break it up and haul it away as we found the slab was over 12" thick ! !

The patio paver idea is okay if you can build it and keep the pavers from shifting. Don't scrimp on making the base out of crushed stone. Generally more than one week end's work and a couple of friends.

Good luck with your project.

YMMV

 

[tmschuller]

At my last house we were in the same situation as lovemachine.

ALmost a walk out the sliding glass door.

When we bought their were about a dozen 12" pavers out the back door. Completely useless.

I was debting between poured concrete and a wood deck.

Ultimately I was in Menards and they had 50% off some 18" 'wet style' concrete pavers. Regularly $4. I made a 18' by 30' patio. I put down 2" of rock and then leveling sand. with a grass edging thing around the edge.

Very cool looking. I also was hoping since it wasn't "permanent" I wouldn't get dinged on tax assessment.

4 years later the tax whores showed up at my door with an overhead satellite picture demanding to know about my "new concrete patio". I explained it was just pavers yada yada... I also didn't use locking sand, so they weren't "fixed" into place.

Anyway, they mesaured it and said teh supervisor would have to make the determination... uh-huh, because it's not like the regulations aren't crystal clear about loose pavers.

I think the property thieves assessed it as a patio ultimately but I sold the house right after that and it wasn't my problem at that point.

pavers held up awesome for 4 years. I also bought a couple extra and stored them in the shed, in case one broke. Never did.

. good alternative.