The title is pretty accurate. Right now I'm renting a townhome with a fenced in yard, approximately 30' deep from the house and about 40' wide. The yard vaguely slopes downward from the house toward the fenceline with a neighbor. Right now there is a small set of steps leading from my house to a paver patio. the steps just collapsed from dry rot and I need to replace them. The latest set of rains made my paver patio go from jacked up to beyond any recognition with a patio, as it appears that a thin layer of topsoil was put down before the pavers were set, and that's it. The actual base material for the yard is pretty heavily clay, such that even a gentle rain pools on the surface of the exposed dirt. On two sides of my yard, the four feet closest to the fence is covered in aspen trees and gnarled roots and I'm not going to bother touching those.I have approval from my landlord to propose whatever fix I think is necessary so long as it's relatively affordable (as in, I can't just get a deck built). I'm pretty handy, but I've never had to deal with soil that just refuses to drain. I need to simultaneously provide a new set of stairs (about 32" from ground to doorway), while making a living space again so I can use my grill and patio set.I've researched a lot of options and I honestly have no idea what to do. Pavers seem great, but I am concerned that the roots and water washing is just going to destroy them again in a few years. I could pour concrete but I don't know how to do that and my back yard only has access through my house, so I'd have to carry in concrete through my house to do it.Do you guys have any ideas? I wouldn't even be opposed to just clearing out the entire patio and playing down astroturf if that would make my yard decent again. via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2f3seIi
