Patios in Hyde, drained before they are paved

Testing the ground. A trial pit filled with water tells you more than any survey on paper. If it stands, a soakaway will not work and the drainage has to go somewhere else. That single test decides most of what follows.

The dig and the muck away. Turf, topsoil, roots, old concrete and made ground get excavated out to a firm formation. On wet ground we dig in dry weather where we can, because a saturated subgrade will not compact. Spoil goes out to a grab lorry or a skip.

The sub base. MOT type 1 in compacted layers, deeper where the ground is soft, with a geotextile between subgrade and stone so the two do not pump together in the wet. Hardcore is fine on a small dry area but not on ground like this.

Permeable build ups. Where the ground will take water, an open graded stone reservoir under the paving with open joints above it holds runoff and lets it away slowly. It is a real option here and it is quoted as a build up, not as a jointing choice.

Drainage that goes somewhere. Where a soakaway will not work the answer is a positive outfall: an ACO channel across the low side or the threshold, falls carrying runoff into it, and a gully into a drain that leads away. The water has to stay on your own land.

Falls and the damp course. A steady fall away from the house across the whole surface, and a finished level at least two courses below the damp proof course. On a low threshold that means a recessed channel across the doorway rather than building the paving up.

Porcelain, sandstone, limestone and granite. Calibrated porcelain absorbs almost nothing, comes slip rated and stays clean in a shaded damp garden. Riven sandstone and limestone suit older cottages better, and granite is dense and hard wearing for steps. Riven stone is not calibrated, so each piece is bedded to its own thickness.

Full bed, never dabs. A full wet mortar bed under every slab with a slurry primer on the back of porcelain. Dabbed slabs are hollow underneath, and on wet ground the void fills with water and the flag lifts in a frost.

Edges, steps and retaining. Haunched edging or a kerb to hold the outer course, a retaining edge with a coping where the ground is held back, and step treads on a full bed with an overhang so water drips clear.

Jointing and repairs. Resin grout brushed into damp joints, or pointing in mortar on riven stone. We also relay sunk and rocking flags, cut out cracked ones and deal with staining, efflorescence and a green slippery surface.

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 on a lane with a gate a barrow fits through, a smallholding with a yard a lorry can reach and a house set back behind a paddock are three different jobs before a slab is priced. 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.

The flood maps put this area outside the river flood zones, but they rate the surface water risk here as high, and Huckles Brook runs a little over half a kilometre away. You can check what applies to an address in a couple of minutes. What that classification means on the ground is simple: after heavy rain the water has nowhere quick to go.

A patio makes that worse if nobody thinks about it. Turn a stretch of lawn into a sealed surface and the rain that used to soak in has to run somewhere. On saturated ground a soakaway at the bottom of the garden fills and stays full, and then the water backs up under the paving and comes through the joints.

So we test before we design. If the trial pit drains, a permeable build up over a stone reservoir is usually the answer, holding water under the patio and letting it away slowly. If it does not, the surface gets a positive outfall: channels, falls and a gully into a drain that leads somewhere real. Either way it goes on the quote as its own item.

We cover the village, Frogham, Godshill and the lanes up onto the escarpment, broadly SP6, 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.