Patios in Kinson

The old one is dug out first. Behind many houses in Kinson there is a slab of concrete, a strip of paving and a coal bunker base nobody uses. It all has to be broken out and taken away, along with any soft made ground under it, before a new patio goes down. That dig and the muck away are priced by the load, and they are often a third of the job.

The base. Once the formation under a Kinson patio is firm, a sub base of MOT type 1 is laid and compacted in layers. The slabs then go down on a full mortar bed, not on dabs, because dabs leave voids that rock, crack and hold water under the slab. Porcelain is laid with a slurry primer on the back so it bonds to the bed, because it will not stick otherwise.

Falls and the damp course. A patio has to fall away from the house, so the rain runs to the lawn or a drain, not against the wall, and it has to finish at least two courses below the damp proof course. Where the garden sits higher than that allows, a channel drain along the wall or a step down takes up the difference. The channel, an ACO type or similar, runs to an existing gully or a soakaway, so the runoff has somewhere to go rather than across the neighbour's lawn. Getting this wrong is what puts damp on the inside of a back wall.

Choosing the slab. Porcelain is hard wearing, keeps its colour and does not soak up algae, so it suits the shady side of a house. Indian sandstone looks softer and warmer and wants sealing and a clean now and then. Calibrated slabs, all cut to one thickness, make for tighter levels and a flatter finish, which matters most on a path people walk every day.

Joints and edges. Joints are pointed with a mortar or brushed in with a jointing compound, depending on the slab. Edging or a haunched kerb holds the edge against the lawn, and a small retaining edge deals with a garden that slopes.

Relaying what is there. If the slabs are sound but the base has sunk, we lift them, rebuild the base and relay the same paving. That costs less than digging out and starting again.

No rate per square metre, because the slabs are the part you choose and the smallest part of the price.

Getting to it. A bungalow with a side gate wide enough for a barrow, a mid terrace where everything comes through the house, and a semi with a garage blocking the side are three different amounts of carrying. 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 matter here where a step or a dug-out edge is left open, and the programme is set with that in mind.

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 for a Kinson patio? 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.

We lay patios across Kinson in BH10 and BH11, including the houses near Pelhams Park, Kinson Common and Bear Cross, 3.7 miles from our base in Boscombe, with BCP Council as the planning 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. Before you book a visit in Kinson, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Kinson 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.