Patio & Hardscape Drainage Problems

After heavy rain, does water pool on your patio or hardscape? A well-designed patio should direct the rainwater away from your home towards a suitable drainage system. When rainwater pools on the surface, it can collect near your door or flow toward your foundation, which may indicate a drainage issue.

Common causes of water pooling on your paver patio include a poorly designed slope, runoff from nearby areas, uneven pavers, or an inadequate drainage system. If you don’t solve these problems in time, repeated moisture can lead to erosion, sinking pavers, ground damage, and foundation seepage.

In this article, we’ll cover how to identify patio and hardscape drainage problems, understand what is causing them, and what steps to take to fix them.

Signs of the Common Patio & Hardscape Drainage Problems

Rainwater should always drain away from your patio after heavy rainfall. If it stays there for a long time or flows toward your house, it might indicate a drainage problem. Here are the common signs to watch for.

• Standing Water on the Patio
• Pavers become uneven or even sink
• Water flows toward the house
• Soil washes out around the patio
• Gaps appear between pavers
• Algae or moss keeps growing on the surface
• Doorsteps or walkways stay wet after the patio dries up completely

What Are the Common Causes of Water Pooling on a Patio?

Now that we’ve covered the common signs of water pooling on a patio, let’s look at what may be causing it.

Poorly Designed Patio Slope

A properly built patio must have a correct slope so the rainwater can flow away from your house. Now, if the surface has an incorrect slope, such as too flat or sloping towards your house, the water will stay on the patio and even collect around the edges. You may even notice puddles forming in the same area after every rainfall.

Uneven or Sinking Pavers

Settled pavers can also cause water to pool on your patio. Some pavers may sink because of a poorly compacted base or poor drainage beneath the patio. When this happens, a low spot forms between the gaps, and water eventually pools there. It is best to observe during or right after rainfall; you will see some sections of your patio staying wet after rain.

Runoff From Roof, Yard, or Nearby Areas

Your patio may look fine, but too much runoff from nearby areas such as the roof, driveway, or yard can also send water toward your patio. For instance, the downspout may be directing water to your patio, or excess water may be coming from the higher part of your yard. As a result, water can pool in that area.

Poor drainage system

A suitable drainage route is required to collect the water on your patio. Even with the correct slope, rainwater still needs somewhere to drain to, right? This can happen when the soil around the patio is too low, compacted, or does not drain well enough.

Blocked or clogged Patio Drainage

You might already have a drainage outlet in your patio, such as a drain, grate, channel drain, trench drain, or catch basin, but what if it is blocked or clogged?

Leaves, dirt, mulch, or other debris can block the drain or pipe, preventing water from flowing through properly. As a result, after heavy rainfall, the water can pool around the drainage outlet.

Can Standing Water Damage Your Patio and Hardscape?

Standing water or pooling water on your patio can become a serious issue if it isn’t fixed in time. It can damage the patio itself and may also cause problems around your foundation. Common damage includes:

• Sinking or uneven pavers
• Erosion around the patio
• Weeds and algae can grow
• Rainwater can reach the foundation
• Stains and surface damage can develop
• Nearby landscaping can get damaged
• Slippery areas
• Soil around the patio can wash away
• Base can become saturated

How to Fix Patio & Hardscape Drainage Problems?

Now let’s focus on how we can solve standing water problems on your patio. Here are some effective, practical solutions to eliminate water pooling.

Correct the Patio Slope

If your patio doesn’t have the right slope and the surface directs rainwater toward your house, you may need to regrade or rebuild the area to create a proper slope. If only a small area of your patio has the wrong slope.

For example, if most of your patio drains well but only 30 sq. ft. slopes toward the house, you can correct that section without rebuilding the whole patio. But if a large portion of the patio slopes toward the house, a larger section or the entire patio may need to be rebuilt to create a proper slope, depending on how your patio is constructed.

Level the uneven pavers.

Pavers can sink over time when heavy rainfall or poor drainage affects the base underneath them. As a result, a low spot forms and water pools in that specific area. If you notice any pavers are loose or sunk, you can remove them and check what’s happening underneath.

The problem is with the base, not the paver itself. If the material supporting the base has settled or washed away from heavy rain, you need to repair it and properly compact it before putting the pavers back on top.

You can add a thin layer of bedding sand, put the existing pavers back in place (if not damaged ), and level them just like the surrounding pavers. Finally, you can refill the gaps between the pavers with sand.

Redirect Runoff From Nearby Areas

During heavy rainfall, runoff from a downspout, driveway, roof, or even the uphill part of your yard can send the water towards your patio. In these cases, you need to redirect the water into an appropriate drainage outlet before it reaches the patio.

Below are some solutions you can use to prevent water from flowing toward your patio.

• Roof and Downspout runoff → Extend the downspout or connect it to a drainage pipe and redirect the water away from the patio.
• Runoff from uphill of your yard → Adjust the grade or create a suitable route to collect and redirect the water.
• Driveway runoff → Redirect the water before it reaches the patio, possibly installing a channel drain along the edge of the driveway to collect and redirect the runoff.

Install a Suitable Drainage System

A proper drainage system and a suitable outlet are required if grading and redirecting the runoff isn’t enough to keep the water away from your patio. The right drainage solution depends on the problem. Below is a list of drainage systems you can install to move rainwater away.

• Channel or trench drain → A channel, also sometimes called a Trench drain, is a long, narrow drain that helps to capture the surface water from patios, driveways, and walkways and directs it away to a drainage pipe.
• Catch basin → Collects the water from low areas of your patio and directs it into an underground drainage pipe.
• French drain → A French drain is a gravel-filled trench with a perforated pipe that collects water and redirects it away from your house.

When Do You Need Professional Help for a Patio Drainage Problem?

You have tried everything, but water is still pooling on your patio? If the water keeps pooling and you leave the problem unresolved, it can lead to serious damage. Drainage issues can erode the soil and patio base, cause sections of the patio to settle, and direct water toward your foundation or basement.

At Murfreesboro Drain Services, we help homeowners identify where the water is coming from and determine whether a catch basin drainage system suits your property.

We provide catch basin installation, repair, replacement, and cleaning and maintenance for residential and commercial properties. We can evaluate water location, existing drainage, and surrounding grade to determine the right catch basin setup for your property.