How to Build an Outdoor Seating Area

An outdoor seating area can be anything from a formal house-side patio to a casual, remote landing place.

An outdoor seating area can have the same look and structure of an ordinary patio but can be located anywhere on your property. "Loose" surface materials, such as gravel or crushed stone, are the easiest to install, while patio pavers, brick and stone offer a more formal look and a more stable surface for outdoor furniture. Design the size and shape of the area around your seating plan. For example, a round seating platform is perfect for casual gatherings around a portable fire pit or round patio table.

Things You'll Need

• Stakes
• Mason's string
• Line level
• Tape measure
• Excavation tools
• Compactible gravel
• Rake
• Plate compactor or hand tamp
• Sand (as needed)
• Patio surface materials (as needed)

Instructions

1. Mark the corners (or edges) of the seating area with stakes and mason's string. Use a line level to set the strings level, or, if you want to slope the area for water runoff, slope the strings along the sides at 1/8 inch per linear foot.

2. Excavate the area inside the layout strings. For a loose material surface, excavate to a depth of 4 inches; for pavers, brick or stone, excavate 6 inches deep, plus the thickness of the paving material. Use the layout strings to gauge the depth of the excavation. Tamp the excavated area with a rented plate compactor.

3. Cover the area with compactible gravel; add a 2-inch layer for loose materials or a 4-inch layer for paving materials. Rake the gravel flat and smooth and tamp it thoroughly.

4. Complete the surface installation. For loose materials, add the surface material to the desired thickness, and rake it flat and smooth. If desired, tamp the surface with a compactor or roll it with a drum roller. For pavers, brick and stone, install the materials over a 2-inch layer of sand (or as directed by the paver manufacturer). Sweep sand over pavers to fill the joints between the units, then tamp the surface, if applicable.

References

• "Stonescaping Made Simple;" Kristen Hampshire and David Griffin; 2009