What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Ryan Dove

"carnesio24" wrote in message
news:a3eefffeb46c27a2f9aad13e12086131@homerepairli ve.com...

What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Few sources for professional info good for
northern MI live outside northern MI.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"carnesio24" writes:

What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Even if the slab doesn't crack if it goes out of level it's not so easy
to fix. That's what happened to mine.

I recommend pavers, not bricks.
I have brick walkways and a paver patio:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/despen...tio-done2.html

The bricks move around.
The pavers lock in place and stay put.

With pavers you can always pull them up, adjust and replace.

On Jul 19, 10:36 am, "carnesio24"
wrote:
What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Ryan Dove

Concrete is an impervious hardscape and has a cold unnatural look
about it. How about flagstone or some other natural stone? Bricks or
pavers will work too, depending on the look you want. I prefer the
look of natural stone because it blends in well with surrounding
landscape. Don't use mortar though to anchor the stone. Instead use
crushed granite or a similar natural material. This way your stone
patio will not crack when your clay soil expands and contracts.

"carnesio24" wrote in message
news:a3eefffeb46c27a2f9aad13e12086131@homerepairli ve.com...
What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Ryan Dove

Go with a stamped concrete patio, a nice pattern will hide any cracks, and
a good base should make any cracks a moot point in the first place also you
don't have to worry about the pavers or bricks heaving around and making toe
stubbing a common occurence.

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:03:32 -0400, Dan Espen
wrote:

"carnesio24" writes:

What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Even if the slab doesn't crack if it goes out of level it's not so easy
to fix. That's what happened to mine.

I recommend pavers, not bricks.
I have brick walkways and a paver patio:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/despen...tio-done2.html

The bricks move around.
The pavers lock in place and stay put.

With pavers you can always pull them up, adjust and replace.

Very beautiful patio/deck.

valvejob writes:

On Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:03:32 -0400, Dan Espen
wrote:

"carnesio24" writes:

What makes more sense for us to do. We are doing a walkout from the front
of our house with a patio. We dont live on the lake but have a great view
of the lake just off of it. We get very cold winters in Northern Michigan
and the wind blows directly at our house from off the lake. We also have
Clay beneath where the patio will be.....Does anyone have a suggestion.
It has been my experience that the Slab always cracks, but I would like a
professional opinon. Thank you

Even if the slab doesn't crack if it goes out of level it's not so easy
to fix. That's what happened to mine.

I recommend pavers, not bricks.
I have brick walkways and a paver patio:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/despen...tio-done2.html

The bricks move around.
The pavers lock in place and stay put.

With pavers you can always pull them up, adjust and replace.

Very beautiful patio/deck.

Thanks. 5 years later and I'm still happy with it,
it's held up well.