How to Create a Chic Gravel Patio
Last updated August 21, 2024
Kevin O’Gara is editor and founder of Thou Swell. He’s inspired by a mix of traditional and contemporary design, and loves dogs, dinner parties and big windows. Kevin is the brother of two sisters and the best friend of one spunky wired-hair fox terrier. After voraciously pinning interiors throughout his early teens, Kevin decided to write and produce his own content. In 2013, he created Thou Swell, named after the famous jazz standard and inspired by the song’s spirit and nostalgia. In just a few years Thou Swell has become a destination for interior lovers and entertaining enthusiasts.
A Note From The Home Depot
This gravel patio was created for a patio makeover by Kevin O’Gara, the editor and founder of Thou Swell. Read about how he decorated his new patio in A Backyard Entertaining Space in Blue.
Here’s Kevin’s step-by-step tutorial showing exactly how he built his new gravel patio.
Table of Contents
How to Create a Gravel Patio
Step 1: Measure and Prepare
Step 2: Gather Materials and Lay Out Your Wood
Step 3: Secure the Wood and Adhesive
Step 4: Spread the Gravel
How to Create a Gravel Patio
Step 1: Measure and Prepare
Start by measuring the area you’d like to fill. In my case, an existing retaining wall runs the length of one side of the patio, so we built the gravel barrier around the other three sides.
If you’re filling a dirt area, you’ll also want to make sure you’ve leveled the area as well as possible, but with careful attention to flattening the outer edges so the lumber will lay flat on the ground. If your ground is particularly soft, you can consider covering the area with a layer of landscape fabric.
Determine where people will be entering the area and accommodate for easy access – we built a little concave landing area outside of our back door to decrease the tripping hazard of the wood.
Step 2: Gather Materials and Lay Out Your Wood
Once you know how much wood you will need, you can either have it cut at your local Home Depot store or take it home and cut it yourself.
To ensure water drainage, use a hammer and chisel to create notches on the bottom side of the 2 x 2 wood. In our case, we made about four notches at the ends of the wood farther away from the house.
Once you’ve laid out your wood, connect the corners using corner brackets. Use a 90º angle to ensure accuracy and make sure to screw in the brackets on the bottom side of the wood so they’re out of sight.
For the pebbles, the standard recommendation is to use about a third of a bag per square foot, however, perhaps due to the foundation layer being concrete and providing no sinking for the rocks, I ended up using less gravel than I expected. I covered 524 square feet with 105 bags of Vigoro pea pebbles.
Step 3: Secure the Wood and Adhesive
To secure the wood, we originally planned on screwing the wood into the concrete, but the concrete proved way too difficult to drill into for our screwdriver!
Instead, I used an indoor/outdoor construction adhesive. It was easy to use, and it’s very secure. I glued the bottom of wood at the ends and corners. After about 30 minutes, I could already feel the adhesive setting. It’s important to secure the frame first because once the gravel is down it can be difficult to keep it from slipping under the wood and preventing contact with the slab.
Step 4: Spread the Gravel
I mainly used my feet to spread out the rocks, but you can also use a rake to smooth it once you’ve poured all the pebbles out.
You may also consider putting your patio furniture in place before spreading the gravel to make sure it’s sitting on even ground.
Once it’s all spread out, sit back and enjoy your new gravel patio!
Kevin O’Gara is editor and founder of Thou Swell. He’s inspired by a mix of traditional and contemporary design.
He built this gravel patio as part of a total patio makeover–A Backyard Entertaining Space in Blue.
Follow our Outdoor Living board on Pinterest for ideas on how you can make the most of your outdoor spaces.
This post was created in partnership with The Home Depot. The author may have received compensation for this article and associated images or video, potentially in the form of products and/or services. All expressed opinions and experiences are the author’s own words.
