Patios in Bashley

Finding the bottom of the made ground. The excavation goes down until the material stops being builder's spoil and starts being ground, which on a Bashley plot like this can be a good deal deeper than the standard figure. What comes out goes by skip or grab lorry and is priced by the load, so the trial hole at the survey is what makes that number honest.

Sub base. Compacted hardcore, MOT type 1, in layers and whacked as it goes, with a geotextile beneath it where the formation is still soft so the stone cannot work down into it. Then a full wet mortar bed with a slurry primer on the back of each slab. Not five dabs. Not a screeded sand bed.

Porcelain. Calibrated to a constant thickness, so a large terrace stays flat and the joints stay even across it. It takes up no water, cleans easily and comes with a published slip rating. It is cut wet with a diamond blade and primed on the back, without which nothing bonds to it.

Natural stone. Riven sandstone for warmth, limestone for a flatter and cleaner look, granite where something very hard is wanted, travertine only somewhere sheltered. Most of it is uncalibrated, so every slab is bedded to its own thickness, which is slower and is why stone and porcelain rarely price the same way.

Falls, thresholds and the damp proof course. Water goes away from the house and the paving finishes at least two courses below the DPC. On a bungalow or a house with low patio doors, a threshold drain along the wall takes it at the frame rather than the level being raised.

Edges, steps and retaining. A haunched kerb or a low retaining course with a coping around the perimeter, drainage behind anything holding ground back, and steps of an even rise. On a big terrace the outer edge does a lot of work and it is where a cheap job shows first.

Drainage and jointing. A channel drain at the low end into a gully or a soakaway, a permeable border where the ground will take it, and joints brushed and worked in with a two part compound rather than sand or a bagged grout.

Repairs. Sunk, rocking and lifted slabs, a cracked step, algae on the shaded side, efflorescence and iron staining on newer stone. On a settled patio the slabs are usually fine and the base is the problem.

A Bashley patio has no rate per square metre. You choose the slabs, and they are the smallest part of the bill. The route in. Behind a long drive, through double gates at a bungalow, or down a single side path: each changes how materials arrive. Wheeling slabs straight to the site is far quicker than carrying each one.

What comes out first. Old concrete, a raised bed, roots from nearby trees, or rubble somebody buried years ago must be dug out and carted away, priced by the load, which is why the dig makes or breaks the quote.

The clay underneath. On Bashley's clay the sub base goes deeper, so the patio does not drop along one edge as the ground dries out and wets again.

The level at the back door. The paving must fall away from the house and finish two courses or more below the damp proof course. That may mean steps, a retaining edge or a drainage channel. A Bashley patio laid at the wrong level against the wall is the costliest mistake there is on this job.

Size. A big terrace on a large plot may need two falls and a channel between them, rather than one long slope.

Ask other quotes how deep the dig goes and what sub base, whether the slabs go on a full wet bed or dabs, whether the edgings are included, and what jointing compound is used.

Eight and a half miles or so separate Bashley from where we are based in Boscombe. We lay patios in gardens across Bashley, Wootton and Sway Road, and in New Milton and Ashley, under the New Forest National Park Authority for planning.

The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, and the company is Thomas Hannen's; he walks your garden and prices the patio himself. A verified customer gave us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit is free, and so is the itemised quote that follows. Made ground under the lawn usually runs under the front too, so a driveway in Bashley gets the same trial hole first. Before you book a visit in Bashley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Bashley need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.