Patios in Hangersley
The plots here sit on the escarpment above the Avon valley, so a level terrace means cutting into the bank at one end and building out at the other.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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On a sloping Hangersley plot the important half of the patio is the half that is built out on fill. Cut ground is solid the day it is dug; fill is only as good as the way it was compacted, and that is where a terrace either stays level or drops away at the far corner.
On a sloping plot like those around Hangersley Hill, a terrace settles along its outer edge, a retaining wall starts to lean out of line, or the level area turns out too small to be much use once the garden is reworked.
All three come back to how the ground was formed rather than what was laid on it. We dig a trial hole in your Hangersley garden, look at what the terrace is standing on and take a level off the damp proof course. Then the work goes into one written itemised quote with the excavation, the muck away, the sub base, the edgings and retaining, the paving and the jointing on their own lines. The visit and the quote are free.
The work
Cutting in, building out and holding it there
The level is set first. Before anything is dug in a Hangersley garden we decide where the flat surface sits, because that decision fixes how much comes out of the bank and how much has to be built up at the front. Get it wrong and you either lose the view or end up with a retaining wall twice the size it needed to be.
The cut. Excavating into the slope gives firm ground straight away. What comes out goes by skip or grab lorry, priced by the load, and on a Hangersley plot with a long drive the lorry access is worth checking before anyone quotes a figure.
The fill, and why it is the risk. Ground built out at the front has to be placed and compacted in layers rather than tipped and levelled, with a geotextile between made ground and clean stone. Tipped fill consolidates for years and takes the paving with it, which is exactly why so many sloping Hangersley gardens have a terrace that is flat by the house and low at the far edge.
Retaining. Whatever holds the cut or the fill needs a footing, a coping, a drainage layer behind it and weep holes through it, so water is not left pressing on the back of a wall. Heights matter and so does what is on the other side of the boundary.
Base and bedding. Compacted hardcore, MOT type 1, in layers, then a full wet mortar bed with a slurry primer under each slab. Not five dabs and not a screeded sand bed. On ground that has been reformed, a continuous bed is what spreads the load rather than concentrating it on four corners.
Paving and steps. Porcelain is calibrated, absorbs nothing and has a published slip rating, which is worth having on steps outside. Sandstone, limestone, granite and travertine are uncalibrated and warmer, each slab bedded to its own thickness. Steps run at a consistent rise with the nosings bedded solid.
Falls, the damp proof course and drainage. Surface falls away from the house, finishing at least two courses below the DPC, into a channel drain at the low end and on to a gully or a soakaway, with a permeable border where the ground will take it. Joints go in with a two part compound rather than sand or a bagged grout.
Repairs. Sunk and rocking slabs, a cracked step, a bulging retaining edge, algae on the shaded half, efflorescence and iron staining on newer stone.
How it runs
Terracing and laying a patio on a sloping garden
Thomas walks your Hangersley garden with you, checks the fall of the ground and the damp proof course, and prices the patio himself. His quote splits out the dig and muck away, the sub base, levels and falls with the drainage, retaining edges and steps, the slabs and the jointing. Thomas stays your contact while it is all built.
Gardens around Hangersley Hill often slope, so a level patio means cut and fill: digging into the high side, building up or retaining the low side, and adding steps. Spoil goes out by barrow or a small digger through the side gate. Slabs are bedded on a full mortar bed and laid to fall away from the house. The site is swept each evening and spoil leaves with us. If we find made ground, old footings or roots that need a decision, Thomas takes a photo, prices it and checks with you before we continue.
Laying paving at ground level in a back garden is usually permitted development, with no planning application or building control notice. Terracing a slope changes that, because a raised platform or a tall retaining wall is treated differently. Planning in Hangersley is handled by the New Forest National Park Authority, and its heritage and conservation pages explain how it deals with conservation areas and listed buildings. It is worth asking the Authority whether your address falls in one.
Cost
Cut and fill, retaining edges and steps: patio pricing
We do not quote patios per square metre, because the slabs you choose are usually the smallest part of the price.
The way in. A house behind a long unmade drive, a plot with a steep path to the back garden, and a bungalow with double gates each need a different plan for getting stone in and soil out. If every slab is carried by hand, that shows in the hours. A steep path to the back garden brings the work at height rules into how the spoil comes out.
The slope. Levelling a sloping garden means moving soil, retaining the low edge and often building steps. On a plot like these that is where a patio quote is won or lost.
What has to go. Old concrete, a rockery, roots and made ground all come out before anything goes down, and spoil is charged by the skip or lorry load.
Levels against the house. The finished paving has to sit well below the damp proof course and shed water away from the wall. On a garden that rises toward the house, that often means a channel drain at the back door.
Ask any quote: how deep is the dig, what sub base, full mortar bed or spot dabs, and which jointing compound?
If it has become a hazard
A patio edge that has dropped, or a step that rocks
A slab lifted at one corner, a step that rocks or a patio edge that has dropped on a slope is a trip, and a shaded patio in winter can be slippery. Mark it or keep people off.
Give us a ring, skip the form, and if nobody answers, we ring back as soon as possible. On a Hangersley patio we lift the worst slabs and bed them again, or make the area safe, and look at whether the base beneath has washed out or the edge is creeping downhill. Patio work is scheduled Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Fill settles, and it settles for years
Gardens on the escarpment almost always end up as cut and fill. You take material out of the higher end and move it to the lower end to make one flat area, and the two halves of that terrace then behave completely differently for the rest of their lives.
The cut side is undisturbed ground. Dig it, compact the base and it will not move. The fill side is new made ground, and unless it went down in layers with a whacker over every one of them, it will keep consolidating quietly for years. A patio built on it looks perfect for a season or two and then drops at the outer corner, opens the joints along one line and pulls away from the step. Relaying the slabs achieves nothing while the ground beneath them is still settling.
What that means practically is worth asking about. On any sloping plot in Hangersley, ask whoever is quoting how the built up ground is going to be formed, whether it is compacted in layers, whether there is a membrane between the made ground and the sub base, and what is retaining the front edge. If the answer is that it will be levelled off and left, expect the far side of your terrace to go down. It is also why we would sooner set the finished level a little lower and cut more out than perch a big area on fill.
Who you are dealing with
Who builds patios in Hangersley
We build patios across Hangersley, Poulner, Crow, Linford and the lanes east of Ringwood, broadly BH24, nine and a half miles or so from our Boscombe base. Planning is a National Park matter here. The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Hangersley, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
The business is Thomas Hannen's, and he measures up the garden and prices your patio himself. On Checkatrade, a verified customer rated us 10 out of 10. The visit is free, and the itemised written quote costs you nothing either. A drive cut into the slope has the same filled half to worry about, and driveways in Hangersley are priced with that in mind.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Hangersley?
Most repairs in Hangersley 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.
| Question | In Hangersley |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest National Park Authority is the planning authority for Hangersley. New Forest National Park Authority's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Western Escarpment Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Hangersley. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | Inside the New Forest National Park, where design is looked at more closely and permitted development rights are narrower. |
Questions
Questions about patios in Hangersley
What makes only the built up side of a terrace settle?
Fill that was tipped and levelled rather than placed and compacted in layers. It keeps consolidating for years, so that half goes down while the cut half stays exactly where it was. The slabs are rarely the problem.
How should built up ground be formed under a patio?
In layers, each one compacted before the next goes on, with a geotextile between the made ground and the clean stone. It is slower than tipping and levelling and it is the only version that holds its shape.
Do I need a retaining wall for a level terrace on a slope?
Almost always something. It might be a low retaining course, not a wall, depending on the drop. Whatever it is wants a footing, drainage behind it and weep holes, and its height is worth checking against the rules before it is designed.
Does the conservation area affect a terrace on a sloping plot?
It can, because cutting a level platform into a hillside changes what is visible from the lane, and a substantial retaining wall is a structure instead of paving. Ground level paving out of sight in a back garden usually is not affected.
Can the spoil from the cut be used in the fill?
Often yes, and it saves paying twice, once to take it away and once to bring material in. It has to be suitable material and it has to be placed and compacted properly, otherwise you have simply moved the problem downhill.
Nearby, and next door
Patios near Hangersley
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Free quote
Ask how the built up half is going to be formed
Thomas sets the level, works out the cut, the fill and the retaining, and prices the lot in writing. The site visit and the quote are both free.