Patios in Milford on Sea, built for salt air
Salt and blown sand get into a porous slab and come back out as a white bloom, so on a garden this close to the water the material matters as much as the base under it.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
Close to the water the material decides how a patio ages. Salt and blown sand work into a porous stone, come back out as a white bloom and scour the face every time the wind gets up, so a low absorption porcelain holds its surface here far longer than a soft sandstone will.
People ring us about three things. A terrace gone green and greasy because the wind keeps it damp between showers. Slabs that rock underfoot on a bed that was never solid. And a white haze on new stone that will not wash off.
Two of those start under the slab rather than on it. We survey the whole area, lift a slab to see what it is sitting on, take levels off the house, then price it in writing with the dig, the sub base, the falls, the edgings, the slabs and the jointing on their own lines. The site visit and the itemised quote are free.
The work
Porcelain, stone and a surface that has to live in salt air
Porcelain paving. The default on this coast. Fired to almost no absorption, so salt cannot get into it and algae has little to grip. It arrives calibrated, every slab the same thickness, so the bed stays even and the joints line up.
Sandstone, limestone and granite. Indian sandstone is warm and riven and takes a sealer. Limestone is finer but marks from anything acidic, travertine more so. Granite is hardest and least forgiving to cut. Riven stone is not calibrated, so the bed is worked slab by slab.
The dig. A patio starts with an excavate, not a delivery. Turf, topsoil, old concrete, a shed base or a bed of shingle comes out to a firm formation and the spoil leaves. Access decides how: a skip on the drive, or a grab lorry where one can stand.
The sub base. MOT type 1 in layers, compacted between each one rather than tipped in and rolled over. Depth comes from what the dig finds, not a rule of thumb, and on soft ground a geotextile keeps the subgrade and the stone apart.
Full bed, not dabs. Every slab beds on a full bed of wet mortar, buttered and tapped down, never on a sand screed. Five dabs under the corners is how a slab ends up hollow, and a hollow slab cracks. Porcelain wants a slurry primer on the back or the mortar bed never grabs it.
Falls and the damp course. The surface falls away from the house, never along the wall or back towards it, and finishes at least two courses below the damp proof course. Where the ground will not allow that we drop the patio and bring you back up on steps.
Where the water goes. A patio sheds a lot of runoff and it has to go somewhere: an ACO channel across a low threshold into a gully, or a permeable build up with a soakaway at the bottom of the garden. Ground that will not take a soakaway needs a positive outfall.
Edges and steps. An edging or a haunched kerb holds the outer course out of the border. Where the garden falls away we build a retaining edge with a coping rather than let the sub base spill. Steps get a full bed and an overhang so water drips clear.
Jointing. A brush in resin compound over damp joints on porcelain and calibrated stone, worked in and tooled off, or pointing in mortar where the look wants it. Grout brushed into a dry joint will not bond, and riven stone gets pointed because the joint width moves.
Putting one right. Half our patio work is repair: a slab lifted at a corner, a bay sunk by a doorway, a rocking or cracked flag, pointing washed out, staining, efflorescence, a surface gone slippery with algae. We lift it and say whether the bed or the base is at fault.
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.
A patio at garden level inside your own boundary is normally permitted development, and what gets checked here is the retaining wall or the raised terrace rather than the paving, so the height limits on garden walls are worth a look first. New Forest District Council is the planning authority. There is no conservation area of its own, though the parish carries 28 listed entries, and hard landscaping in the curtilage of a listed building is listed with it. Building control engages where levels or drainage near the house change.
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 seafront bungalow with a wide side gate, a semi with a narrow alley down one side and a flat with a shared rear garden are three different jobs before a slab is ordered. 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 terrace this close to open water stays wet for days at a time in winter, so a green surface here turns slippery earlier in the year than it does inland. The phone is answered 24 hours for emergencies; scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Worth knowing
Salt, blown sand, and why absorption matters here
The water is under a kilometre away and the most exposed side of the house faces south west, straight into the weather. That does two things to a patio and neither shows on the day it goes down. Salt spray holds moisture, so the slabs stay damp long after an inland garden has dried, which is what algae wants. And salt in solution soaks into any stone that will take it, then crystallises under the face as it dries and pushes the surface off in flakes.
So spend the money on absorption rather than looks. Porcelain takes in almost nothing and neither problem touches it. A dense granite is not far behind. A soft sandstone will drink, bloom white in its first winter and need sealing and resealing. If you want the riven look, stand a sample in a bucket of water overnight first.
The same rule runs through the metalwork. Anything that rusts stains a pale slab within a season, so channel gratings and fixings go in stainless rather than galvanised.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We cover the village, Keyhaven, Hordle and the lanes running down to the spit, broadly SO41, under New Forest District Council. 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
Milford on Sea questions we get asked
Is porcelain really worth it on a patio this close to the sea?
On this stretch, yes. It absorbs almost nothing, so salt cannot crystallise under the face, and algae struggles to hold on a surface that dries quickly. Sandstone here needs sealing and will still bloom in its first winter.
What is the white powder coming through my new sandstone?
Efflorescence. Salts in the stone or the bedding mortar travel up with moisture and stay when the water goes. It usually weathers off over a season or two. Do not attack it with acid, because that etches the face.
Why do some of my slabs rock when I stand on the edge?
Almost always because they were bedded on dabs rather than a full bed. The middle is hollow, the corners take the load, and eventually one cracks. Lifting and rebedding is the fix, and the sub base is worth checking while it is open.
Can you build a patio when the only way in is a side gate?
Yes. A standard side gate takes a barrow and a micro digger, so the dig, the muck away and the stone all go that way. It is slower than driving onto the garden, so it shows on the quote as its own line.
How long does a patio of this size take to build?
Most run a week to ten working days: two or three on the dig and the muck away, one on the sub base, then laying and jointing. Weather moves it, because mortar and jointing compound will not go down in a frost.
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Find out what your patio is really sitting on
Thomas comes out, lifts a slab, takes the levels off the house and prices the dig, the base, the falls, the edgings and the jointing in writing. The visit and the quote are free.