Two-Percent Pitch: How Pinellas Paver Fields Should Drain

A paver field that looks level is often the field that ponds at the slider. Pinellas storm cells drop more water in twenty minutes than a flat patio can store in the joints. PaverForge Hardscapes sets a target near two percent—about a quarter inch per foot—away from the house slab and toward a swale, inlet, or street.

Why two percent, not ‘a little slope’

Less than that and surface tension plus joint sand hold a film of water against the house. Much more than that and a garage apron becomes uncomfortable to walk and hard to park on. We shoot existing grades with a level, not a guess from the sidewalk. On flood-zone lots the street may sit higher than the slab; then the answer is a channel drain at the door, not a steeper field that still has nowhere to go.

• Patio pitch to a yard inlet or pop-up away from the slab

• Driveway crown or single pitch to the street

• Isolation joint so the house slab and paver field can move

• Threshold height checked before we excavate

Repairing a flat field

If the base is still competent we can lift, add bedding, and re-pitch a patio. If the driveway has settled in dishes, a lift without new base only moves the puddle. We probe first and tell you which one you have.

Send photos after a storm to 727-490-9798 or PaverForge@gmail.com. Standing water at the slider is the brief we need.