I was set on a gravel patio until a neighbor in Boise showed me what 2 inches of rain did to his
For the last 6 months I had my heart set on a crushed gravel patio because it was going to run me about $600 in materials versus $2,800 for pavers. Then my neighbor Carol showed me the corner of her yard where her gravel pad turned into a bowl of soup after one storm, and she said the stones kept migrating into her lawn for two summers. Has anyone here done pea gravel with a stabilizer base, and did it actually hold up, or should I just save longer for pavers?
Wait, did Carol actually use a stabilizer base or just dump loose gravel and hope for the best? Those are two totally different setups and the migrating stone problem usually means no edge restraint, not that gravel itself is doomed. What kind of base did she prep, and did she have anything holding the edges in, like a steel border or buried curb? Get those details before you write off the cheap option.