Patios in Bere Regis, kept dry at the wall
Wind driven rain runs down an exposed elevation and lands on the strip of patio at its base, so how the paving meets the wall matters more than what happens in the middle.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
On the weather side of a house, rain does not fall neatly onto a patio. It drives at the wall, runs down it and lands on the slabs at the base, then splashes back up onto the brickwork. That is why the detail where paving meets the wall matters more here than the middle of the terrace ever will.
The three things people ring about are a wet strip along the house wall that never dries, joints washed out along the same line, and a slab or two that has dropped where water has been running under the paving for years.
All three are the same fault in different clothes. We look at which way the weather hits the building, take levels off the wall and lift a slab to see the bed. Then it is priced in writing: the dig, the muck away, the sub base, the falls, the drainage, the edgings, the paving and the jointing on separate lines. The site visit and the itemised quote are free.
The work
Terraces on the weather side of the house
The detail at the wall. A patio that simply butts a wall gives splashing rain somewhere to sit. On an exposed elevation we finish with a linear channel or a gravel margin along the base of the building, so water landing there is taken away instead of soaking in.
Falls and the damp course. The surface falls away from the house across the whole area, and the finished level sits at least two courses below the damp proof course. Where the threshold is low, a recessed channel across the doorway does what raising the paving must never do.
The dig. Turf, topsoil, old concrete, a shed base, roots and made ground get excavated back to a firm formation. Spoil goes out in a grab lorry or a skip, or by barrow through a side gate, priced as its own line.
The sub base. MOT type 1 in compacted layers rather than tipped and raked, with a geotextile between subgrade and stone where the ground is soft. Depth comes from the dig, and along the wall it usually goes deeper.
Full bed, never dabs. Every slab on a full wet mortar bed, with a slurry primer on the back of porcelain. Dabbed slabs leave voids, and on a wall exposed to driven rain those voids are exactly where water collects and frost does its damage.
Porcelain. Calibrated to a single thickness, almost no absorption, slip rated finishes. On the weather side of a house that resistance to water is the whole point: it does not darken, does not bloom and does not hold algae the way a porous stone does.
Sandstone, limestone and granite. Riven sandstone suits the older buildings in the village and takes a sealer. Limestone and travertine are flatter and paler but mark more readily. Granite is dense and makes a good step tread. None is calibrated, so each piece is bedded to its own thickness.
Drainage. An ACO channel at the wall and along the low side, taking runoff to a gully with a positive outfall, or a permeable build up over a stone reservoir where the ground takes water. What leaves the surface stays on your own land.
Edges, steps and retaining. Haunched edging or a kerb to hold the outer course, a retaining edge with a coping where a border sits above the paving, and step treads on a full bed with an overhang so water drips clear of the riser.
Jointing and repairs. A resin grout brushed into damp joints, or hand pointing in mortar where the work meets old fabric. We also lift and relay sunk and rocking flags, cut out cracked ones, repoint washed out joints and deal with staining, efflorescence and a slippery green surface.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
Same team from first visit to last, one person to ring, and no sub-contracting your work out to somebody you have never met. The quote is itemised, not a figure on the back of a card: excavation and muck away, the sub base, the falls and where water goes, edgings and steps, the slabs themselves, and jointing on separate lines, so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.
Nothing is left open or unusable overnight. The site is swept at the end of each day rather than the end of the job, and what comes out leaves with us. If something turns up once we start that nobody could have seen, you get a photograph and a price before we carry on.
Dorset Council is the planning authority. There is no conservation area covering the village itself, though there are forty three listed entries in the area around it, and hard landscaping in the curtilage of a listed building can need listed building consent along with it, so we check an address rather than assume. Paving a garden at ground level is otherwise normally permitted development. Building control comes into it where ground levels or the drainage around the house are being changed, and a retaining wall above the permitted height is a separate question.
Cost
What decides the price of a patio
No rate per square metre, because the slabs are the part you choose and the smallest part of the price.
Getting to it. A cottage fronting the street with no side access, a bungalow with a gate off the drive and a house with a yard a lorry can turn in are three different jobs on the same area. Everything comes in and goes out through the garden, often through a side gate or the house. A patio you can barrow to directly is a different job from one where every slab is carried. The work at height rules still apply to the dig and the machinery.
What is coming out before anything goes down. An old concrete slab, a raised bed, tree roots or made ground all have to be dug out and taken away, and that is priced by the load rather than by the metre. The dig is where a patio quote is won or lost.
Falls, levels and the damp course. A patio has to fall away from the house and finish at least two courses below the damp proof course, and getting that right often means steps, a retaining edge or a drainage channel. Laying a new patio up against a wall at the wrong level is the single most expensive mistake on this kind of job.
Comparing quotes? Ask how deep the dig goes and what sub base is specified, whether the slabs are laid on a full wet bed or on dabs, what the falls are and where the water goes, whether edgings and steps are included, and what the jointing compound is. Two quotes for the same job are usually two different jobs.
If it has become a hazard
A patio that has lifted, sunk or turned slippery
Ring rather than use the form. A slab that has lifted at one corner or a step that has dropped is a trip, and a north facing patio in winter can be genuinely dangerous. We can usually lift and re-lay the worst of it quickly, then look properly at whether the base under the rest has gone. If there is a wet strip along the house wall that never dries out, ring in the wet rather than waiting for summer, because that is when we can see where the water actually goes. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Which way the weather hits the house
The most exposed side of a house here faces south west, and that is the direction the wet weather arrives from. Wind driven rain does not behave like rain falling straight down. It hits the elevation, runs down the face of the wall and arrives at the bottom in quantity, right where the patio meets the brickwork.
Two things follow. The first is splash back: rain landing on a hard surface bounces, and it throws water up the wall a good couple of hundred millimetres. If the paving sits high, that splash lands above whatever damp protection the house has. The second is volume, because the whole elevation drains onto a narrow strip of your patio.
So on the weather side the falls run away from the building rather than along it, the level is kept well down, and the strip at the base of the wall gets a linear drain or a gravel margin instead of a slab butted to the brick. Small part of the area, large part of whether the wall stays dry.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover the village, Bloxworth, Milborne St Andrew and the lanes towards the heath, broadly BH20, under Dorset Council. You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free.
Questions
Bere Regis questions we get asked
There is a permanently wet strip where my patio meets the house. Why?
Because rain running down the wall lands there and the paving gives it nowhere to go. A slab butted tight to the brick holds the water against it. A linear channel or a gravel margin along the base takes it away instead.
How far up a wall does splashing rain actually reach?
Far enough to matter, commonly a couple of hundred millimetres off a hard surface. That is why the paving level and the damp course go together: splash landing above the damp course puts water into the wall whatever the barrier is doing.
Is a gravel margin as good as a drainage channel?
For most houses, yes, and it is cheaper. A margin of clean stone along the base of the wall lets splash drain away instead of standing. Where the ground will not take water, or the strip is narrow, a linear channel and an outfall is the better answer.
Does sealing the slabs stop water reaching the wall?
Sealing a stone patio changes how it looks and how it wears, and it does nothing about where the water goes. Falls and drainage solve that. A sealer is worth considering on porous stone for staining, not as a fix for a wet wall.
Can you rebuild just the strip next to the house?
Sometimes. If the rest of the terrace is sound and on a decent base, taking up the run along the wall, digging in a channel and relaying it is a sensible piece of work. We will tell you honestly whether the rest is worth keeping.
Nearby, and next door
Patios near Bere Regis
Patios nearby
Our other trades in Bere Regis
Everything we do in Wareham Patios, all areas Every area we cover
Free quote
Get the wall detail right, not just the paving
Thomas comes out, looks at how the weather hits the house, takes levels off the wall and prices the dig, the base, the falls and the drainage in writing. The visit and the quote are free.