Patio question

So, Spring Break is here. The kiddies go off to the beach and I get to put in a patio. I've got my base material, what they call "road surface" around here, which is 1" and smaller, to dust. Going to put in a 4" base of this, well tamped with a plate vibrator, 1-2" of sand, and then pavers, like the unipaver stuff. I'm doing the excavating, but I notice that there's a distinct "valley" down the middle of the area. It is deep enough at one end that I wouldn't have to remove anything there, if not for the turf. Should I fill that area with dirt before putting in the base and establishing the slope? I have enough base material to just fill it in with that, but I was thinking I might get a wet spot there if water soaked through the base and collected, as the dirt is somewhat clay-like. I plan to build in a 1" in 4' slope, so maybe I'm worrying about nothing?

Chuck

I'd fill it in. It will look better and the water will drain uniformly rather than collecting in the "valley" and draining through it.

Thanks, Andy. I looked in some of my handyman stuff and found just that answer. The slope of the underlying undisturbed ground determines the drainage. Actually, if the "valley" ran away from the house, it might be OK, but it was almost parallel. So I moved the dirt around to get a pretty good consistent slope away from the house. I was using the boxblade on my tractor, and by the time I got the dirt moved around, it was also pretty well compacted. Then the rain came. At least I got to see that the water ran away from the house! Fortunately, I also had a tarp big enough to cover my fill material. That stuff will be hard enough to move and spread dry.

Chuck