135th Street North St. Pete Courtyard Pavers | PaverForge

Courtyards on 135th Street North are usually the only flat outdoor room on a narrow northeast St. Pete lot. Screen lanais, a small pool equipment pad, and a side gate all land on the same square of yard. PaverForge sets that court in pavers so furniture stays level and stormwater has a path that is not the living-room slider.

Drainage before pattern

The pretty bond is the last decision. First we read the fall from the house slab to the side swale. A court that is dead level looks fine in January and holds an inch of water in August. We pitch the field a quarter inch per foot toward a slot drain or a planted edge, and we keep the pool-deck expansion joint free of sand so the cage beam can move.

• Separate the courtyard from the pool deck with a clean expansion joint.

• Pitch water to a side-yard swale, not back at the stem wall.

• Compact the base in lifts; one thick dump of shell will rut under a chair leg.

• Set a flush cleanout ring if an irrigation valve box sits inside the field.

Shade, roots, and furniture

Live oaks on this street lift a mortar-set patio in a few seasons. A sand-set paver field can be lifted and re-laid when a root crosses. That is the practical reason these courtyards are pavers rather than a single stamped slab. PaverForge, 727-490-9798, paverforge.com/services.

If the court also holds a grill or a small outdoor kitchen, we thicken the base under the appliance feet so the units do not rock after the first rainy month.