Two years ago we had a concrete patio poured over an old cracked and damaged patio...this past year we noticed that our floor boards near the patio door had black stains....I watched for a few months and they got worse...after confering with contractors and numerous trips into the crawl space it was determined that the rim board (?) was getting wet and wicking moisture to the floor joists and the floor boards...speculation from a professional is that the patio is sitting too high (it was poured to the brick walls) and should be torn out.....Other professionals have suggested that we cut the concrete and lay a strip drain...suggesting that spending several thousand was better than $9,000 on the entire patio removal and replacement with pavers (set in stone/sand and drainage work). I should note that one contractor said that the patio door was put in incorrectly and needed to be higher and the brick pavers that are a part of the threshhold and step onto the patio also needs to be taken out (more money).

First of all...does my explanation of the problem make sense?
Second, in our decision tree there are two options removal or partial removal. So the question to you all is this: Is it worth it to spend several thousand dollars hoping it will work or do we bite the bullet and take the patio out?

I appreciate all thoughts and suggestions?

Thanks, I have this task by default! Gail

I see no reason why the drain shouldn't work if done properly.