Victorian Pathway Base?

We are currently having our front garden landscaped. We plan to have a Victorian path laid in the spring once the weather improves.
Our landscaped have liaised with our tiler and have put down a steel reinforced concrete base in readiness for when the tiler comes in spring (started/completed the base on Friday 12 hours before the weather increasing got colder and we had some snow...).

The pictures attached pictures show what the base looks like.
Does it look okay and will there be any problems that it was made during the weather change?
One of the picture shows the old coal chute. Will the current base be adequate to tile over if we planned to recondition the coal chute cover and use it as a feature piece?

We are also unsure if we should be having york stone at the start of the path way or slate (which we will be using in the rest of the garden)>

*In case before any one states the path way looks like its on a gradient, it has been purposely made like this to allow wheelchair access.

Its a bit late now - but concrete shouldn't be poured in freezing or near freezing weather - commercial pours are different.

You can walk on the path but leave it alone until the weather warms before any tiling. Tiling the path should be the very last job on the refurbishment.

If there is room the riser below the entranceway should have vents - the sub-area below the hallway possibly needs thro ventilation?

If the concrete surface is flat then there should be no trouble fixing any tiles to it.

Ref the stone or slate business: copy what the Victorians did if you want a Victorian path. But i would go for a granite step.

The surface around the cover should be fine if its a slab or stone but if its sand and cement then come back here.

ree said:

Its a bit late now - but concrete shouldn't be poured in freezing or near freezing weather - commercial pours are different.

You can walk on the path but leave it alone until the weather warms before any tiling. Tiling the path should be the very last job on the refurbishment.

If there is room the riser below the entranceway should have vents - the sub-area below the hallway possibly needs thro ventilation?

If the concrete surface is flat then there should be no trouble fixing any tiles to it.

Ref the stone or slate business: copy what the Victorians did if you want a Victorian path. But i would go for a granite step.

The surface around the cover should be fine if its a slab or stone but if its sand and cement then come back here.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I spoke to the landscapers this morning and they advised as they had used rapid set concrete and applied it prior to the cold snap arriving, it should be completely fine (there was a peirod of 8hrs from when they set the concrete base and the cold snap arriving).

With regards to the riser below entrance, there has never been any vents there...? We are planning to put a new door/frame in within the next 6 months, so not sure this could be addressed then?
However under the floor in the hall and the outdoor porch is a the cellar.

Just checked the surface of the coal chute. When lifting the cover, there is only around 3inches worth of sand and cement.
I guess the fact it has been there since the 1890's there should be no problem?

Forget about the vents if you have a cellar below.

Clean off any loose bits, and carry on tiling the entranceway S&C bed.

Make sure that your tiler is going to carefully set-out chalk or pencil lines for his lay-out - its necessary.

ree said:

Forget about the vents if you have a cellar below.

Clean off any loose bits, and carry on tiling the entranceway S&C bed.

Make sure that your tiler is going to carefully set-out chalk or pencil lines for his lay-out - its necessary.

Click to expand...

Due to the houses age the pathway is slightly angled and as we will require wheelchair access, we have sloped the pathway - could these 2 factors cause any issues?

How should we go about tilling in between the pillars? In-fill?

We was hoping to have a border and replicate the original pathway that was damaged and too time consuming /costly to repair/recondition...

A slight angle is fine - you shouldnt notice it when walking on the path.

The setting-out lines will take into account any recesses between pillars or anything else. google: "originalstyle.com" and check out their catalog for design ideas.