Porcelain, sandstone, limestone, steps and walls
Patios and paths
Patios, paths, steps and low retaining walls in porcelain, Indian sandstone, Welsh limestone or setts, laid on a full mortar bed with a fall and a drain, with circles, borders and lighting if you want them.
A patio is a floor outdoors, and in this climate it needs a foundation and a drain or it rocks, grows green and floods the kitchen.
We excavate, lay a compacted sub-base, and bed every slab on a full mortar bed with a slurry primer so it cannot lift or rock. The patio falls away from the house at 1 in 80 to a channel or a soakaway. Joints are a brush-in resin compound or a mortar point, never sand. Porcelain does not stain or grow algae and does not need sealing; sandstone is warmer and cheaper and wants a wash each spring; Welsh limestone and Pennant suit older houses.
Steps are built on concrete foundations with the risers in blocks or stone; retaining walls in sleepers, blocks or natural stone with weep holes and a drain behind. Garden lighting conduit goes in before the slabs do, which is the only time it is cheap.
What is included
- Sub-base and full mortar bed with primer
- Porcelain, sandstone, limestone or setts
- Fall to a channel or soakaway
- Resin or mortar pointing
- Steps, retaining walls, circles and borders
- Lighting conduit before the slabs; ten-year guarantee
What it costs
From £120 per square metre in porcelain or sandstone including excavation, sub-base, full mortar bed, pointing and drainage. A typical 25 square metre patio is £3,000 to £4,200. Steps and walls quoted. All prices include excavation, sub-base, edging, drainage, waste removal and VAT. See the full price list.
Questions about patios & paths
Porcelain or sandstone?
Porcelain if you want it to look the same in ten years with a hose. Sandstone if you want warmth and a patina and will wash it each spring. Porcelain is about 20% more laid.
Get it measured.
Nia visits, measures, works out the drainage and draws it. The price per square metre arrives within two days with the base, the edging, the drains and the skips in it.