I moved into my house a year ago could not afford to do the front garden/driveway. I can park my car on the street easily so driveway is not urgent. However I urgently need a path to my front door. Currently I have used rubber mats on weed membrane to have a straight path to the door. Below it is just mud. I still do not have funds 
and was looking for a cost effective option that still looks good. I will turf either side of the path.
The path will be straight and about 6 meters from kerb to door and 1.2 m wide. Height from front door to path is not an issue - I don't need steps.
I was thinking I will get a dozen 1200mm x 600mm x 20mm porcelain patio tiles and lay it from kerb to door with small pebbles in-between (rather than grout). I will use a stiff garden edging on either side to keep the pebbles in. The pictures below may give the idea (ignore the steps)
Could anyone advise on how to prepare the ground for laying the tiles?
I was thinking I will
- level the ground, compact it, cover with heavy duty membrane
- lay cheap concrete slabs for the porcelain tiles to sit on (2 x 600mm x 30mm square concrete slabs per porcelain tile)
- level the concrete tiles with mallet and use an outdoor tile adhesive on the concrete slabs to place the porcelain tiles on
- This process would give me a depth of about 50mm (30mm concrete tile and 20mm porcelain tile) which will provide good depth for the 15mm decorative gravel to be put between tiles
- I expect this to cost about £700 (£500 for concrete slabs and porcelain tiles, £50 for adhesive, £100 for pebbles, £50 for heavy duty edging)
But I am a novice and the above may not work at all - would it?
If not, what is the a cost effective way to do it that will last atleast 5 years? I can do most of the work myself and call in a tiler for half a day if needed - only 10 or so tiles need laying so hoping it will not be expensive.
and was looking for a cost effective option that still looks good. I will turf either side of the path.The path will be straight and about 6 meters from kerb to door and 1.2 m wide. Height from front door to path is not an issue - I don't need steps.
I was thinking I will get a dozen 1200mm x 600mm x 20mm porcelain patio tiles and lay it from kerb to door with small pebbles in-between (rather than grout). I will use a stiff garden edging on either side to keep the pebbles in. The pictures below may give the idea (ignore the steps)
Could anyone advise on how to prepare the ground for laying the tiles?
I was thinking I will
- level the ground, compact it, cover with heavy duty membrane
- lay cheap concrete slabs for the porcelain tiles to sit on (2 x 600mm x 30mm square concrete slabs per porcelain tile)
- level the concrete tiles with mallet and use an outdoor tile adhesive on the concrete slabs to place the porcelain tiles on
- This process would give me a depth of about 50mm (30mm concrete tile and 20mm porcelain tile) which will provide good depth for the 15mm decorative gravel to be put between tiles
- I expect this to cost about £700 (£500 for concrete slabs and porcelain tiles, £50 for adhesive, £100 for pebbles, £50 for heavy duty edging)
But I am a novice and the above may not work at all - would it?
If not, what is the a cost effective way to do it that will last atleast 5 years? I can do most of the work myself and call in a tiler for half a day if needed - only 10 or so tiles need laying so hoping it will not be expensive.
