Patios in New Milton

Clearing and digging out comes first. Turf, borders, an old concrete path and any made ground left from a New Milton estate build come out until we reach a firm formation. The spoil goes by skip or grab lorry and is priced by the load. In a small garden it is a surprisingly big share of the job, because there is nowhere on site to put anything.

The base. Compacted hardcore, MOT type 1, in layers, then a full wet mortar bed with a slurry primer on the back of each slab. Not five dabs, and not a screeded sand bed. A void under a slab holds water, and in a New Milton garden where every drop lands on paving there is plenty of water looking for a void.

Setting out the falls. With no lawn left, the surface has to move all of it. That means a consistent fall away from the house across the whole area, not just near the doors, and often a fall in two directions with a valley into a channel. It is set out with a laser and string lines before a slab goes down, because it cannot be corrected afterwards.

Drainage. A channel drain along the low edge into a gully or a soakaway, so the runoff stays on your ground rather than heading for next door or the road. Where there is any planting left, a permeable border along a fence line takes a useful share of it and costs almost nothing.

Materials. Porcelain suits these New Milton gardens: calibrated, no water taken up, a published slip rating and very little upkeep. Sandstone, limestone, granite and travertine are warmer and uncalibrated, so each slab is bedded to its own thickness. Everything is primed and bedded full.

Thresholds and the damp proof course. The paving stops at least two courses below the DPC and falls away from the wall. Where patio doors sit low, a threshold drain along the house takes the water at the frame instead of the level being built up to meet it.

Edges, steps and boundaries. A haunched kerb or a retaining course with a coping around the perimeter, steps of an even rise where there is a change of level, and the edge kept clear of a neighbour's fence posts so nothing is undermined and no water is pushed under a panel.

Repairs. Sunk and rocking slabs, a cracked step, algae on a shaded strip between two buildings, efflorescence and iron staining on newer stone.

Barrow or machine is the first question. Behind a terrace with only a shared alley, or a semi with a gate narrower than a mini digger, the dig is done by hand and every bag of spoil walks out.

A bungalow with a wide side access lets a small machine and a dumper in, and that changes the days more than the size of the patio does. Where a raised terrace has an open edge, the work at height rules come into it as well.

What is buried there. Old concrete paths, a buried rockery, conifer roots, or builders' rubble from when the estate went up all come out and go to the tip, charged by the load.

Levels at the back door. Many eighties houses in New Milton were built with the floor only just above the garden. The finished patio has to sit well below the damp proof course and fall away from the wall, so sometimes the answer is a step down from the door or a channel drain along the house. On this clay the water needs a soakaway or a border to go to, never the foot of the wall.

Porcelain or stone. Porcelain is thin and dense, so it goes on a full mortar bed with a bonding primer on the back. Indian sandstone and other natural stone come in uneven thicknesses and take longer to bring to one level.

Ask any other firm how deep they dig and what sub-base they lay, whether every slab is bedded fully, and which way the surface water runs.

We work from a base in Boscombe, eight miles from New Milton, and lay patios in the town and out to Ashley, Barton, Bashley and Hordle, across BH25. The local authority is New Forest District Council.

The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, number 15471719. Thomas Hannen owns it; he walks the garden, checks the levels at the back door and prices it himself. A verified customer on Checkatrade marked us 10 out of 10. We visit and quote in writing, itemised, for free, with every item listed separately. Where the front is paved as well, the water still needs an outfall, and driveways in New Milton are drained with the same care. Before you book a visit in New Milton, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in New Milton 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.