Patios in Mudeford
Patios laid to last in Mudeford's back gardens, with a slab chosen to cope with the salt air, BH23.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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We lay patios in Mudeford in porcelain, sandstone, limestone and granite. Many Mudeford homes are seventies and eighties bungalows and houses, and their original slabs have often sunk, cracked or gone green. Every slab goes down on a full mortar bed over a proper sub base, with a fall away from the house. For the front of the house, see driveways in Mudeford.
A Mudeford patio is due for replacing when the grey concrete slabs laid with the house rock underfoot and turn slippery with algae every winter, when a bungalow patio sits so high against the back wall that damp has started showing inside, or when a garden is being redone for retirement and the owner wants a level path, fewer steps and a surface that stays safe in the wet.
Thomas comes out, checks the levels against the damp proof course, looks at where the water goes, and measures the route in from the road. The visit is free and the written quote is itemised.
The work
Replacing old slabs, levels and the way in
Taking up the old patio comes first. Most original patios in Mudeford are thin concrete slabs on dabs of mortar or on bare sand, which is why they rock and sink. They come up, and so does whatever they were sitting on, old concrete included.
We dig out to firm ground, lay a type 1 MOT sub base and compact it in layers, then set each slab on a full mortar bed so there are no hollows underneath to crack or hold water.
Choosing the slab. Porcelain is hard, dense and does not stain, and a textured outdoor grade grips well in the wet. It needs a slurry primer on the back so it bonds to the bed. Indian sandstone is warm looking and cheaper, but it is porous and greens over in shade. Limestone and granite sit in between. Calibrated slabs are cut to one thickness, which makes a flatter job and suits a level threshold.
Levels and the house wall. The finished patio sits at least two courses of brick below the damp proof course, or 150mm, unless a channel drain runs along the wall. A Mudeford patio falls away from the house so rain runs to the lawn, a border or a gully, never back against the brickwork. Where you want to step straight out of French doors, a slot drain at the threshold lets us bring it up close.
Steps and fewer of them. Many gardens in Mudeford are fairly flat, so a lot of this work is taking out an awkward single step, replacing it with a gentle slope or one wide shallow step with a proper nosing, and edging the patio so the border does not creep onto it.
Jointing. Joints are filled with a brush in compound or a mortar pointing, depending on the stone. A well filled joint stops weed and ants and keeps the slabs from lifting at the edges.
Repairs. A few lifted or cracked slabs, a sunk corner by the downpipe, or white efflorescence on new sandstone. These are often a day, and we will say so rather than sell you a new patio.
How it runs
From your call to a written price
One person to ring from the first visit to the last. 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 ground level in a back garden rarely needs planning permission for a house, and a permeable surface keeps the runoff on your own land. Raised decks and platforms are different. Mudeford Quay has a conservation area and there are listed houses along the front, so for a garden there, and certainly for a listed one, we check with BCP Council first.
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 bungalow garden reached down a side path, a mid terrace town house where everything comes through the hall in bags, and a detached house with a wide side gate for a mini digger each shape the labour line before the first slab is cut. 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.
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.
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. If the patio sends rain back against the house, sweep it away from the wall and clear the gully while you wait for us, because that is where the damp starts. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. For anything urgent, ring rather than use the form, and if we cannot pick up we ring you back as soon as we can.
The one local thing
Salt, wind and a slab that stays grippy
Mudeford sits right on the sea and the harbour, and a back garden here is rarely far from either. The air carries salt, and the wind off the water keeps surfaces damp long after a shower. That changes the choice of slab more than anything else.
Porous stone such as sandstone takes up the salty moisture, greens over quickly and can get slippery, and some of the softer stones scale on the surface over a few winters. A dense porcelain or a granite shrugs it off and needs little more than a sweep and a rinse.
Mudeford's salt air also changes the small parts. Any metal in the job, from edging strips to the grate on a channel drain, wants to be stainless or plastic rather than plain steel, which rusts and stains the paving. We lean towards a textured finish so the slab grips when it is wet, and a slightly steeper fall on a garden that faces the water, so it dries sooner. If you love the look of sandstone, we will lay it, and tell you how often it will want cleaning here.
Who you are dealing with
A local firm you can check
We lay patios across Mudeford, Stanpit and Friars Cliff, from the quay and Avon Beach back towards Christchurch, in BH23, from our base in Boscombe, about four miles west.
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 Mudeford, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Mudeford?
Most repairs in Mudeford 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 Mudeford |
|---|---|
| Who decides | BCP Council is the planning authority for Mudeford. BCP Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Mudeford Quay Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Mudeford. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | No National Park or National Landscape covers Mudeford. |
Questions
Questions about patios in Mudeford
Which paving is best near the sea?
A dense porcelain or granite suits Mudeford best. Both resist salt and algae better than sandstone, and a textured finish stays grippy in the wet.
Can the patio be level with my back door?
Close to it, with a slot drain along the threshold. Without a drain, it has to sit about two courses of brick below the damp proof course.
How long does a patio take?
A typical back garden patio is a few days to a week, depending on the dig, the access and the size.
Can my old slabs be relaid?
Sometimes, if they are sound and only the base has failed. Thin old concrete slabs are usually not worth relaying.
Nearby, and next door
Patios near Mudeford
Nearby places we also cover for patios, with straight-line distances from Mudeford, and the other trades we offer in Mudeford itself.
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Our other trades in Mudeford
Patios guides
Driveway planning permission and where water goes Frost damage to brickwork: why it shows later Resin bound, block paving or tarmac comparedEverything we do in Mudeford Patios, all areas Every area we cover
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Get a price for your Mudeford patio
Thomas checks the levels, the drainage and the way in, then puts an itemised price in writing. The visit and the quote are free.