Patio facts & stats

Question 1

The word 'patio' comes from Spanish, where it originally meant what?

Accepted Answer

An inner courtyard. In Spanish architecture a patio is an open-air courtyard inside a house.

Question 2

How is a patio usually different from a deck?

Accepted Answer

A patio is paved at ground level; a deck is a raised platform. Patios are typically paved with stone, brick or concrete at ground level, while decks are raised, often wooden platforms.

Question 3

Why are patios usually built with a slight slope?

Accepted Answer

So rainwater drains away. A gentle fall away from buildings stops water pooling on the surface and running toward walls.

Question 4

What are the white powdery salt deposits that can appear on brick or concrete called?

Accepted Answer

Efflorescence. Efflorescence forms when water carries dissolved salts to the surface and evaporates, leaving them behind.

Question 5

Travertine, a popular patio stone, is a form of which rock?

Accepted Answer

Limestone. Travertine is a limestone deposited by mineral springs, often full of small holes.

Question 6

Which zigzag paving pattern is named after the bones of a fish?

Accepted Answer

Herringbone. Herringbone paving sets rectangular bricks at angles, resembling the skeleton of a herring.

Question 7

Portland cement is named for its resemblance to stone from which place?

Accepted Answer

The Isle of Portland, England. Its 1824 patent named it after Portland stone, a limestone quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.

Question 8

At mid-northern latitudes, such as in Europe or the US, which way should a patio face for the most sun?

Accepted Answer

South. North of the tropics the Sun passes through the southern sky, so south-facing spaces get the most sunlight.