Paver Patios in Leesburg, VA

Paver Patios for Leesburg Homes and Estates

The hardest part of a paver patio is the part nobody sees. Across Leesburg and eastern Loudoun, the soil is largely Triassic red clay that swells after a wet spring and shrinks in a dry August, and the ground freezes to roughly 24 inches. A patio set on a few inches of sand over that clay will rock and dip within a couple of winters. Local pros strip the topsoil, dig into firm subgrade, spread a woven geotextile so the clay cannot pump upward, and compact six to eight inches of angular aggregate in thin lifts before a one inch screeded bed receives the pavers.

Once the base is right, design takes over. Today's concrete pavers come tumbled, honed, shot-blasted or in oversized planks, and many read convincingly like stone. A border course in a contrasting color frames the field, curves are cut in place so they flow rather than step, and the surface is pitched about a quarter inch per foot away from the house so a July thunderstorm sheds water instead of parking it by the back door. Hidden edge restraints are spiked into the base, and polymeric sand is swept in to lock the joints.

Paver terraces fit nearly every property in the area, from a modest back patio behind a Country Club-area rambler to an entertaining level behind a Lansdowne or Belmont home where the HOA wants a quiet, tidy look. Because pavers are separate units, a root problem or utility repair can be fixed by lifting and resetting a section, a real benefit on lots with mature oaks and walnuts along Tuscarora Creek or the older streets near downtown.