I have two patio now under construction in my backyard, in holes I dug mostly myself to a depth of from 10 to 18 inches. One, to be covered using flagstone, is 500 sq. ft, while the circular one, to be paved with brick, is of 14 ft diameter.
The contractor indicated he would lay grade "B" gravel underneath and grade "A" 3/4" stone in the next layer, both on top of geotextile, and compact every 2 inches. He did lay the geotextile, but put down a combination of what looks more like stonedust mixed with gravel,. He didn't even try to compact until the end.
As we understand it, the will cause water to accumulate like a sponge. We live in Ottawa, Canada, where there is lots of freezing and unfreezing due to seasonal changes, and you can imagine what problems with the base that might cause.
Note that the holes holding the base stone do not drain water well anyways, due to clay bottoms. Nevertheless, is there a justification for what has been put down as a base?
