Patios in Brockenhurst, built around the trees
Roots move a base from underneath and shade keeps a surface damp enough for algae, so on these gardens the tree decides more about the patio than the slab does.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
A terrace under mature trees has two problems the brochure never mentions. Roots move a base from underneath, and shade keeps the surface damp all winter so algae takes hold and the slabs turn slippery. Both are solvable, but they are decided at the dig, not at the point you choose a slab.
Most houses here are detached, plenty are older, and a lot of the gardens have oak, beech or a big conifer hedge in them. So the calls follow a pattern. A flag risen at one corner over a root. A shaded terrace that has gone green and stays green. And pointing washed out of an old stone patio.
We look at the trees first, then the base. A trial hole shows how deep the roots run, and the levels come off the house. Then it goes 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
Patios under trees, and how to stop the roots winning
Working out what the roots are doing. A trial hole shows where the big structural roots run and how close to the surface they sit. That decides whether the terrace moves a couple of metres, whether we bridge over a root, or whether the base is built above it rather than through it.
The dig. Turf, topsoil, old concrete, leaf mould and soft made ground get excavated out to a firm formation. Near a protected tree the last of it is dug by hand, and cutting a major root is never decided with machinery already in the hole. Spoil goes out in a grab lorry or a skip.
The sub base. MOT type 1 in compacted layers with a geotextile below it. Under trees the membrane earns its keep twice over: it keeps the subgrade out of the stone, and it makes a much less inviting layer for fine roots to grow into.
Full bed, never dabs. A full wet mortar bed under every slab, with a slurry primer on the back of porcelain. Where a root does lift a corner, a fully bedded flag can be cut out and replaced cleanly, while a dabbed one takes its neighbours with it.
Porcelain, and why it suits a shaded garden. Calibrated to one thickness, almost no absorption and made in slip rated finishes. Under trees it stays cleaner for far longer than stone, and it does not stain from leaf fall, sap or berries the way a porous sandstone will.
Sandstone, limestone and granite. Riven sandstone suits the older brick houses here and takes a sealer. Limestone and travertine are flatter but mark more easily under trees. Granite is dense and makes the best step tread. None is calibrated, so each piece is bedded to its own thickness.
Falls, levels and drainage. A fall away from the house, a finished level at least two courses below the damp proof course, and somewhere for the runoff to go: an ACO channel to a gully, or a permeable build up over a stone reservoir where the ground will take it.
Edges, steps and retaining. A haunched edging or kerb holds the outer course against root pressure, a retaining edge with a coping holds a bank or a raised border, and step treads go on a full bed with an overhang so water drips clear.
Jointing. A resin grout brushed into damp joints resists the moss that opens a sand joint up. On riven stone we point in mortar. Where a surface has already gone green a soft wash lifts it, and a slip rated finish keeps it off longer.
Repairs. Lifting and relaying flags raised by roots or sunk over a soft spot, cutting out cracked slabs, repointing washed out joints and dealing with staining and efflorescence on stone that has sat damp.
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.
Planning here goes to the New Forest National Park Authority rather than the district council, and the village has its own conservation area, so external appearance is controlled and trees are protected. That last point matters most on this kind of work: notice has to be given before a protected root or branch is touched. The Park publishes an interactive property map so you can see what applies to your address. Paving a garden at ground level is normally permitted development even so, while a raised terrace or a change of drainage is not.
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 detached house with a drive to the back gate, a cottage on the street with a barrow width alley and a property with a paddock a lorry can reach are three different jobs. 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. A flag lifted at one corner by a root is a genuine trip and it only gets worse, so those are worth ringing about rather than living with. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Trees, roots and a terrace that stays in the shade
Well over a third of the housing here is detached and a good part of the village predates 1900, which usually means a decent garden with mature trees already in it. That is why people move here, and it decides how a patio has to be built.
A structural root thickens as the tree grows, and anything sitting directly on it goes with it. Cutting the root is often the worst answer: it can destabilise the tree, and inside a conservation area it is not your decision alone. Better to move the terrace, build the base deep enough to bridge the root, or accept a flag or two will need lifting one day and build so that is easy.
Shade is the second half. A north facing or tree covered terrace never dries properly, and algae only needs damp. That is what makes a patio slippery, not the material. So under trees we specify a slip rated finish, joint with a resin grout rather than sand, and keep the falls positive so water leaves rather than sits.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover the village, Sway, Boldre and the lanes out across the forest, broadly SO42, under the New Forest National Park Authority. 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
Brockenhurst questions we get asked
A tree root has lifted one of my slabs. What are the options?
Lift the flag, see how big the root is, then choose. A minor root can sometimes be reduced. A structural one should not be cut, so the answer is to bridge over it with a deeper base, or to relay that section and accept it may need lifting again in time.
Can you cut roots of a tree in the conservation area?
Not without notice to the National Park. Trees inside a conservation area are protected, and works to them have to be notified first. We check before quoting, because it changes the design of the patio rather than just the paperwork.
Which paving stays least slippery in a shaded garden?
A slip rated external porcelain in a textured finish. It absorbs almost nothing, so it dries fast and algae struggles to hold. Smooth sawn stone is the worst choice for permanent shade, whatever it is sealed with.
How do I stop moss growing back in the joints?
Joint with a resin grout rather than kiln dried sand, keep the falls positive so water leaves the surface, and clear leaf litter in the autumn before it rots down. Moss lives on damp organic matter, so removing the food does more than scrubbing.
Do fallen leaves stain natural stone?
They can. Tannin from oak leaves and sap or berries from anything overhanging will mark a porous sandstone or limestone, and a sealer only slows it. On a garden with heavy leaf fall, porcelain saves a lot of scrubbing.
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Get a patio designed around the trees you are keeping
Thomas comes out, digs a trial hole, looks at the roots and the shade and prices the dig, the base, the falls and the jointing in writing. The visit and the quote are free.