Drainage & Grading · Interlock · Backyard Renovations · Ottawa

French drain, walkway and rear patio

A French drain across the lawn, membrane and clear stone along the house, then a slab walkway to a rear patio.

Before: French drain, walkway and rear patio

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Location: Ottawa
Services: Drainage & Grading Interlock Backyard Renovations
Materials: Concrete slabs
Dimpled drainage membrane
Clear stone
Compacted base

Scope: French drain, membrane, walkway and patio
Base: Membrane and clear stone, compacted base under the slabs
Outcome: A dry route from the drive to the back door

The problem

Where the job started

Lawn ran right up to the wall along the side and back of the house, and there was no walkway to the rear door.

What Korvex did

Trench a French drain across the lawn
Lay dimpled membrane along the house
Place a clear-stone apron
Excavate the walkway and patio area
Build and compact the base
Lay slabs from the side yard to the rear door
Restore soil and edges along the lawn

How we solved it

The hard parts of this job

The water work went in first, while the ground was open. The French drain carries water across the yard, and the membrane under the clear-stone apron runs the length of the house. The walkway sits right beside the wall, so its base is shaped to shed water away from it.

01
Around the air conditioner and the window well
The membrane had to pass an air conditioner on a wall bracket and a basement window well. It was cut and laid around both, and the finished slabs form a pad around the air conditioner.
02
A curve along the lawn
The walkway bends into the rear patio. A black edge restraint holds the slabs along the lawn side of the curve, and at the rear door the slabs fit around the existing steps.