patio

Hi, just after a bit of assurance that I'm doing the right thing with my patio plan. The patio will be next to the house and the other side meets the top of a wall, raised from the lawn. I was initially going to have a fall from the house to the garden so water would drain onto the lawn, but...

Hi, We currently have (rotting!) decking in the back garden. It is raised from the level of the lawn with hardcore underneath the joists. There is a single skin brick wall at the end that meets the lawn with a decked step down to the lawn. I am removing the decking and putting a patio down. As...

Hi, We had a patio done over a year ago, but have started noticing some damp and some smells. Upon investigating one possible cause could be that the patio seems to be badly laid and not following standard rules e.g. butting up against external wall too high, no drain for rain water and fall...

Hi, We have a very solid but rather ugly patio - several different materials have been used ( paving slabs, concrete, various repairs ) so the colours are very uneven. I'm guessing this is a silly idea because I haven't read about it anywhere, but could I just mix up a cement and SBR slurry and...

Hi All, We have recently had outward opening french doors installed at the rear of our house. The installer let us know that we need to have an initial step of 1.2M level in front of the door to allow them to open. I am looking now at how best to achieve this. I could try and destroy what is...

Hi All, We have recently had outward opening french doors installed at the rear of our house. The installer let us know that we need to have an initial step of 1.2M level in front of the door to allow them to open. I am looking now at how best to achieve this. I could try and destroy what is...

We had a conservatory removed at the back of our house and are planning on replacing it with a patio. However, the concrete slab that was under the conservatory is only about 75mm below the DPC, so by the time we put the paving on it and factor in a fall away from the house, the ground level...

Quick question to any paving experts out there. I have laid a new sandstone slab patio on a semi dry mix of sand and cement (6:1). I used the guide from the paving expert website (laying flags). I'm just wondering how long it takes to set and how long to wait before pointing it? If too...

I am doing a patio with pure mint flags and want a light coloured (no iron stains either from normal mortar) joints filled with something strong i.e. grout or mortar? Conflicting opinions from 2 builders: 1 says go for easy jointing compound, swept in and done in no time. The other suggests...

My builder has laid a resin bound patio to replace my tired looking slabs this week. The result is a complete disaster. It looks like a patchwork quilt! I know my builder isn't a resin bound specialist, but he has laid 5 or 6 of these before, including one for my in-laws, which looks perfect...

I am looking at a 12Kw FireFly gas patio heater from Primrose, and just wondering how long will they run for on average based on a Full 13KG Propane bottle with a 12Kw burner on it's highest setting? How does the efficiency compare electric patio heaters? Reagrds: Elliott.

Hi all, is this a ridiculous idea??.... I have a 3.5m x 9m block paved patio in the garden. Its structurally good and hasn't dipped or moved in the 4 years we have lived in our house. My question is: could I directly concrete slab on top of the block paving? I know this sounds a bit odd but it...

Hi Guys I am trying to think of the best (easiest) way to do this. Basically I have a raised patio that I want to build a set of steps up/in to. the steps themselves will be almost a semi-circle. I want to use brick for the risers and then slabs on top. Question is, do I make forms and pour...

Hi, The decking in our back garden rotted and caved in, so we have decided to take it up and have a patio instead. We have a very sloping garden, and not much sun with a lot of algae growth, and after getting a few quotes for stone patios, we instead decided to install a gravel patio ourselves...

Hi All. We've just had a new patio laid - 90m sq in total, so a bit of a beast. In general I'm happy but before I pay my builder I wanted to get some advise on a couple of niggles that are bothering me. I'm unsure whether to accept as being normal or ask him to re do.In a handful of areas, there...

Hi, About to lay first patio - 20 B&Q large (600x600x35) textured paving slabs, so roughly 3m x 2.4m - with limited traffic as we'll just put low chairs and a garden coffee table on it. I appear to have dug v deep as I ended up putting in 70 large bags (c25kg each) of sub-base, twice more than...

Greetings! We have an Indian sandstone rear patio (probably a few years old, from before we moved to the property). Some slabs were rocking and had moss/vegetation growing in the pointing. Decided to have a crack at re-doing it myself. - Have lifted the slabs, chipped away the old multiple...

I am looking to build a roof over my patio. One side fitted to brick wall, the other to be against posts, with a poly roof. I'm told using ground brackets is best, fitting them to the paving slabs. Trying to work out how to build the roof. Is it best to build the frame first. and then raise...

Hi, I'm attempting to lay my first patio - 5x4 B&Q textured paving slabs at 600x600x35mm each, so roughly 3m x 2.4m - with limited traffic as we'll just put low chairs and a garden coffee table on it. - As the patio is at the end of the garden by the fence, and not near the house, is there still...

Hi all, I'm doing a 2m wide patio around a new extension. There is a 5m wide bifold which needs a 100mm step down onto the finished level of the patio. I have put down the mot and have to compact it, but I'm wondering about footings for the step. Pavingexpert says you can lay brick and flag...