Patios in Furzehill

Looking up comes before looking down. On a Furzehill plot with a mature tree the first thing we do is work out how far the roots reach. As a rough rule they go out at least as far as the branches. Where the patio you want and the root plate overlap, that overlap decides the build.

What we will not do. We will not saw through a structural root to get a level, and we will not concrete over one and hope. Cutting into the roots of a protected tree is an offence as well as a bad idea, so if there is any doubt about a preservation order we check before anything is dug, and the other permissions you may need is the sensible starting point.

Designing around them instead. The usual answers are to move the patio a couple of metres, to build up over the roots on a shallower construction rather than excavating down through them, or to run a root barrier at the edge. Sometimes the sitting area simply belongs somewhere else.

The dig and the muck away. Where we can dig, we dig properly: turf, topsoil, old concrete, flags on sand and any made ground excavated to formation and taken off site. Access in Furzehill is usually good, so spoil leaves by machinery into a skip rather than by barrow through a side gate.

Base and bed. Geotextile membrane, MOT Type 1 hardcore compacted in layers, a sharp sand screed to level it, then a full bed of mortar under every slab with a slurry primer on the back. A proper mortar bed stays put. Slabs on dabs go hollow, and a hollow slab is the one that ends up rocking, cracked and holding water.

Levels, edges and steps. We chalk the DPC on the brickwork and finish two courses below it, with the threshold detailed so nothing washes back to the door. Perimeters are held with a haunched kerb or an edging in concrete, retaining walls sit on a footing with a coping, and a gravel border takes the splashback.

The paving. Porcelain is calibrated, sheds leaf litter and stays clean under a canopy, which is why it wins on a wooded Furzehill plot. Riven sandstone is warmer against old brick, limestone and granite wear hard, and travertine holds water. Under trees the jointing matters as much as the slab: a brush in resin compound, a grout slurry or hand pointing in mortar.

Where the water goes, and lifting what has moved. The fall runs into an ACO channel, an existing gully or a soakaway set clear of foundations and roots alike, with a permeable build up where the runoff has nowhere to travel. Where two slabs have lifted over a root, or a bay has sunk and gone slippery with algae, efflorescence and staining, we quote the lift and relay.

Patios are not priced per square metre, because the paving you pick is usually a small part of the bill.

The way in. A modern Furzehill plot with a side gate wide enough for a machine, a cottage down a lane with a narrow gate, and a long garden behind a hedge each need their own plan. Carrying every slab through by hand takes far longer than wheeling it, and a skip parked on the road can need its own line. The work at height rules still apply to the dig and to any machine on site.

Clearing the ground. Old concrete, a rockery or flower bed, roots and loose fill have to come out and go away before any base goes down, and that is charged per load.

Height against the house. The new surface has to finish comfortably below the damp proof course and run water away from the wall. Where the garden climbs from the back door, that can mean a step, a low retaining edge or a channel drain, with edgings to hold it all.

Where the water ends up. If the trial hole finds clay that shrinks and swells, water must not sit against a foundation, so the drainage is designed rather than assumed.

Put these to anyone else quoting: how deep will you dig, what goes in as the base, will the slabs sit on a full bed of mortar or on spots, and what will you point the joints with?

From Boscombe to Furzehill is about eight miles, and we lay patios across Colehill, Leigh, Holt Road and the lanes north of Wimborne, broadly BH21. The council is Dorset Council. Your job would be with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, company number 15471719, a company registered in England and Wales. Before you book a visit in Furzehill, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Thomas Hannen owns the business, and he walks the garden and prices your patio himself. A verified Checkatrade customer has given us 10 out of 10. The site visit is free, as is the written quote with every item listed. Big trees often stand by the gate here, and a driveway in Furzehill is built over their roots the same careful way.

Most repairs in Furzehill 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.