Hello all.
I could do with the advice of some people with more experience than myself at preparing a base for a patio.
I recently bought a house and the patio in the back garden (made from two different levels) had loose slabs, which were far from our taste. Most of the slabs came up easily by hand; they were attached by dabs of mortar as you can see from the photos.
I’d like to prepare another base, all of one level, and extended it back toward the house slightly more and into the space where the metal tank is in the first photo.
The existing concrete lower base is in fairly good condition, apart from the patch as seen in photo 4. My original plan was to knock the lumps of mortar off the lower area so that’s flat, hire a breaker and remove the higher level section, make a frame and pour concrete into the areas that need it to the same level as the existing lower section (I’d ensure there was a slight slope for water run-off away from the house as there is now.)
I’m now thinking though that it may be best to break up both areas (higher and lower), then hire a compacter to for the hardcore to make a flat bed of at leat 10cm to the level of the tarmac, then lay slabs onto this onto a full bed of mortar. My slight concern with this approach though is that the level of the patio would then be an inch or so below the soil level, taking into account the mortar and the slab thickness.
Can anyone see a problem with this plan? It would involve laying mortar onto some of the tarmac sections with the slabs on top of that, and then having the run off a little lower than soil level. Or would it be best to build up a concrete base at the same height as the existing lower section, then paving on top of that.
I hope this makes sense, if anyone’s cringing at my obviously inexperienced plan, please do let me know what I’m missing.
Thanks in advance, Den.
I could do with the advice of some people with more experience than myself at preparing a base for a patio.
I recently bought a house and the patio in the back garden (made from two different levels) had loose slabs, which were far from our taste. Most of the slabs came up easily by hand; they were attached by dabs of mortar as you can see from the photos.
I’d like to prepare another base, all of one level, and extended it back toward the house slightly more and into the space where the metal tank is in the first photo.
The existing concrete lower base is in fairly good condition, apart from the patch as seen in photo 4. My original plan was to knock the lumps of mortar off the lower area so that’s flat, hire a breaker and remove the higher level section, make a frame and pour concrete into the areas that need it to the same level as the existing lower section (I’d ensure there was a slight slope for water run-off away from the house as there is now.)
I’m now thinking though that it may be best to break up both areas (higher and lower), then hire a compacter to for the hardcore to make a flat bed of at leat 10cm to the level of the tarmac, then lay slabs onto this onto a full bed of mortar. My slight concern with this approach though is that the level of the patio would then be an inch or so below the soil level, taking into account the mortar and the slab thickness.
Can anyone see a problem with this plan? It would involve laying mortar onto some of the tarmac sections with the slabs on top of that, and then having the run off a little lower than soil level. Or would it be best to build up a concrete base at the same height as the existing lower section, then paving on top of that.
I hope this makes sense, if anyone’s cringing at my obviously inexperienced plan, please do let me know what I’m missing.
Thanks in advance, Den.