Two part question : Has anybody used a decking kit and are they worth it? / Is decking a good idea in this area.

[reoreborn85]

hi.
Sorry to start off with this but we moved into a house last year and sadly since then we've had a string of bad luck. My wife became ill and had to give up work and i've had to reduce hours to take care of her. This will be like this for 3-4 years due to her illness so money IS very very tight. I have a budget of £350 at most.

The house is almost decorated but the garden is somewhat of a mess. The grass is full of weeds and grass weed killer isn't even touching it sadly. Over the past year it's just got worse. However, by the backdoor we have a 'patio' of sorts. I want to make it look 'nicer' so my wife can sit out there in the summer and relax and hopefully feel a bit better.

It's 3x4m area but the patio slabs are very cheap and just look a mess. 70% of them are broken and cracked and do need repointing. We do have a lovely table and chairs out there but due to the patio it's not a nice area to sit in at all. The chair and tables wobble also which doesn't help lol.
According to our neighbours the old owners used to use the area to break up bricks and rocks whcih also explained the smash windows when we moved in lol

I have an extremely TIGHT budget as stated above. I priced up a decking and it was WAY above £300. I also thought maybe just replacing the slabs would be a cheaper option but once again it seems that's also way above £300 (Assuming they've used Hardcore and not just sand). Even if they have had using multiple online calculators have the final price around the £600 mark.

Well, I've come across some decking kits online. All you need to do is add protection and buy breeze blocks (to elevate it) that come to around £300 for a 3x3m.

However, i'm worried they're going to be VERY cheap and cheerful and break apart if a gnat farts on them after a year. Has anybody had any experience with them?

Now, the second part.
The area in question gets ZERO sunlight through the year which is perfect as we don't enjoy sitting in the sun lol but unfortunately it makes everything go green through the winter and spring. Would decking be a bad idea here? Obv it'll have a slope and I could get some really strong protective pain and scrub it through the winter.
I understand composite decking would be the way forward but as I say.. tight budget and that's not going to change anytime soon sadly.

So, are they worth it? <3

 

[stevie888]

Not quite answering your question but wouldn't the cheapest option be to use what you've got and redo the patio in crazy paving. Takes time to get it good, but you have that. You'd just need sand and cement: an existing patio is likely to be pretty stable underneath so I'd not get too stressed about that. Just dig out any soft spots.

 

[reoreborn85]

Not quite answering your question but wouldn't the cheapest option be to use what you've got and redo the patio in crazy paving. Takes time to get it good, but you have that. You'd just need sand and cement: an existing patio is likely to be pretty stable underneath so I'd not get too stressed about that. Just dig out any soft spots.

Ty for the reply and ANY help is welcome.
That's a good idea tbh and hadn't thought about that. However, the quote i'd got was actually just for the materials (Cement/Sharp sand) for doing the patio and not the slabs themselves. I was going to get free slabs off of FB.
I asked on reddit and they said the quote i'd got (which was about £390ish) was cheap for a 4x3m patio for the mix.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I have an extremely TIGHT budget as stated above. I priced up a decking and it was WAY above £300. I also thought maybe just replacing the slabs would be a cheaper option but once again it seems that's also way above £300 (Assuming they've used Hardcore and not just sand). Even if they have had using multiple online calculators have the final price around the £600 mark.

Weeds in the grass, will be killed by regular mowing. If you keep an eye on Facebook, there are always people giving away slabs, free for collection.

 

[StephenStephen]

I'd be tempted to make a low edge with stone/blocks/slabs around a new sitting area, and fill it with gravel - cheap, easy, and works well for us.

 

[stevie888]

Ty for the reply and ANY help is welcome.
That's a good idea tbh and hadn't thought about that. However, the quote i'd got was actually just for the materials (Cement/Sharp sand) for doing the patio and not the slabs themselves. I was going to get free slabs off of FB.
I asked on reddit and they said the quote i'd got (which was about £390ish) was cheap for a 4x3m patio for the mix.

I'd have thought 2 big bags of sharp sand and 10 bags of dust. Blue circle was £8.50/bag at B+Q yesterday and bulk bags £78 and £30 home delivery. So your £390 is a bit strong and a proper local merchant would probably be cheaper.

 

[endecotp]

I want to make it look 'nicer' so my wife can sit out there in the summer and relax and hopefully feel a bit better.

Do you like greenery / plants / wildlife, or do you prefer stone / wood / concrete?

I.e. when you say "nicer" and "relax", what do you really mean?

 

[reoreborn85]

Weeds in the grass, will be killed by regular mowing. If you keep an eye on Facebook, there are always people giving away slabs, free for collection.

I mow it about every two weeks and if anything it's got worse. The grass has almost gone now tbh Sadly. .

 

[reoreborn85]

Do you like greenery / plants / wildlife, or do you prefer stone / wood / concrete?

I.e. when you say "nicer" and "relax", what do you really mean?

Green really. The original plan was to wild flower bomb around the outside of the garden and have grass in the middle. We would leave the patio/replace it for sitting out in the evenings or maybe even getting a fire pit.

 

[reoreborn85]

I'd have thought 2 big bags of sharp sand and 10 bags of dust. Blue circle was £8.50/bag at B+Q yesterday and bulk bags £78 and £30 home delivery. So your £390 is a bit strong and a proper local merchant would probably be cheaper.

Really?!?! We used a few calculators and all came back about the same. I may need to take a deeper look into it then ty!!

 

[reoreborn85]

I'd be tempted to make a low edge with stone/blocks/slabs around a new sitting area, and fill it with gravel - cheap, easy, and works well for us.

We do have stones/gravel out the front which we want to get rid of at some point. Wouldn't the chairs/table be a bit unstable though on gravel? Ty for the idea!

 

[Koolpc]

You could keep several of the good slabs. Position them where a chair or table would sit and then put nice gravel around the rest, remembering to put a weed sheet down under the gravel first....pic is just for an example. You could lay your slabs more randomly.

 

[endecotp]

Green really.

OK. This forum is mostly about garden building - paving, sheds, fixing your mower, etc. The “gardening” questions are mostly about how to cut things down. (OK, maybe I’m being unfair. But there are certainly more builders on here than gardeners.)

The original plan was to wild flower bomb around the outside of the garden and have grass in the middle.

Wild flowers can be surprisingly difficult to grow. The ones that like your particular conditions may be what you think of as weeds….

At this time of year, it’s easy to get a quick burst of colour by buying small plants, filling an improvised planter with them, and watching them grow through the summer. The most expensive thing is probably the compost to plant them in.

For relaxation, get bird feeders and improvise a bird bath.

 

[StephenStephen]

We do have stones/gravel out the front which we want to get rid of at some point. Wouldn't the chairs/table be a bit unstable though on gravel? Ty for the idea!

I find the chairs and tables very steady on gravel - if they aren't level you can just screw them into the gravel a bit. I've been surprised how successful it's been