Paver Patios in New Orleans, LA

Building a patio in New Orleans is a different job than building one almost anywhere else. From Lakeview to Uptown to Mid-City, most of the city sits below or near sea level on soft alluvial delta soil with a high water table. Add the humidity, the heat, and the heavy rain that comes with hurricane season from June to November, and you have ground that moves. A poured slab in this city cracks along the seams as the soil settles unevenly under it. Pavers flex with that movement and lift and reset when they do not, which is exactly why they belong here.

Why pavers beat a slab in New Orleans

Our soil does not hold still. It compresses, it shifts after a wet spell, and it heaves a little near old tree roots in neighborhoods like Uptown and the Marigny where the live oaks have been there longer than the houses. A concrete slab is one rigid piece, so when the ground underneath moves, the slab cracks and there is no fixing it. A paver patio is hundreds of separate units over a deep, compacted base. When one corner settles, we pull the affected pavers, correct the base, and set them back. You get the same patio, not a patched one. That repairability is the whole point on ground like ours.

How we build for our ground

• We read the water first. On a lot in Gentilly or Lakeview, we figure out where rain pools and where it needs to go before we lay a single paver.
• Deep, compacted base. We dig out and compact a proper crushed-stone base so the patio rides on something stable instead of bare delta soil.
• Drainage built in. Positive slope, channel drains, and outlets keep water moving off the patio and away from the house, which matters on tight lots where the patio sits close to the foundation.
• Polymeric joints. We lock the joints with polymeric sand that resists washout in heavy rain and slows the weeds and ants our humidity loves.

Built for tight, historic lots

A lot of New Orleans homes are shotguns and doubles on narrow lots with side yards barely wide enough to walk through. We are used to working those spaces: hauling materials by hand through a gate, protecting original brickwork and historic features, and laying out a patio that fits the scale of the house instead of fighting it. In historic districts, we keep the design and materials in step with the character of the block, and we handle the Orleans Parish permit when the scope calls for one. Permit rules and fees vary by parish, so we check with the local office before we start.

Pairs well with

A patio is one piece of the yard. On our ground it works best alongside the systems that keep water in check and hold a grade. Many of our New Orleans projects pair a paver patio with drainage and grading to move storm runoff, and a retaining wall where the lot steps down or a raised bed needs holding back. If you are weighing a patio for your home, get in touch and we will walk the yard with you.

Serving the New Orleans metro

We build paver patios across New Orleans and the surrounding metro, including Metairie, Kenner, River Ridge, Slidell, Covington, Mandeville, Madisonville, and Abita Springs.