Re: Project patio stage 1
Originally Posted by
Mups
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Ullabi, it looks really good.
Excuse my ignorance, but how do you level joists if they have bowed?
Thanks Mups.
In answer to your question.
When you lay paving or build a patio you need a good solid base. To do this you usually water the sand/gravel and then pack it with a vibrator befor laying the paving or patio joists. If you don't then there's a risk that the base will settle and the paving or patio will become uneven. This is what happened with mine. When it was first built they didn't pack the base properly and over the years as the gravel settled one of the joists started to sag a bit forming a dip where rainwater collected and didn't run off because they hadn't left a gap between the planks and it became dangerous when it froze.
The joists weren't laid directly on the gravel because of the height difference outside between the back door and the ground. Instead the builder who did the original job used concrete bases to rest the joists on.
To raise the joist and level everything off I first removed all the planking and then used a long spirit level to find exactly where it was sagging. Once I'd found the spot I put the car jack on the ground next to the pillar underneath the joist and jacked it up until I could see it was level. Then I inserted thin metal plates between the joist and pillar until the gaps were filled. When that was done I could take out the jack and replace the planking with a gap between each plank to allow run off.
So that's how I did the job