Patios in Rockbourne, ground that floods
A level platform in a garden the water crosses is a dam unless somebody has thought about where the water was going before you built it.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Rockbourne is a stream village, and a fair number of gardens here fall within the mapped flood zones alongside Sweatfords Water. A patio built without thinking about that does not just get wet. It changes where the water goes, and sometimes it sends it at the house.
On Rockbourne ground this close to the stream, the trouble is often standing water more than the paving. A terrace that ponds for days after heavy rain. A raised patio that has quietly become a dam across the garden. And slabs that have dropped and rocked because the ground under them has been saturated and dried out too many times.
We come out to Rockbourne, look at where the water arrives from and where it can go, and dig a trial hole to see what the ground is like below the topsoil. Then you get a written itemised quote with the dig, the muck away, the sub base, the drainage, the edgings, the slabs and the jointing on separate lines. The visit and the quote are free.
The work
Building a terrace on ground that floods
Reading the ground comes first. In Rockbourne a trial hole tells you more than any survey. We want to know how deep the topsoil is, whether there is made ground or old concrete under it, how far down water is sitting, and whether the subsoil will take any at all. Roots, spoil and buried rubble all come out and are priced by the load.
The sub base, and why it has to be right here. MOT Type 1 whacked in thin lifts to full compaction, on a geotextile separator so the stone cannot be pumped down into saturated subsoil. Ground that wets and dries repeatedly moves, and an under compacted base is the first thing to give.
Full mortar bed, no dabs. Slabs bedded on a full wet bed with a slurry primer on the back. In a garden that floods, a dabbed slab is sitting over a void that fills with water every time the level comes up, and it will rock, then crack, then lift.
Choosing the stone. Porcelain is calibrated, does not take up water and does not stain, which matters when a terrace is going to be under silty water occasionally. Sandstone is riven and porous and will show a tide line. Limestone marks more. Granite is very hard wearing. Travertine we would not put anywhere that floods.
Levels, the damp course and the house. Paving falls away from the building and finishes at least two courses below the DPC, and near a watercourse that clearance is worth having in full rather than at the minimum. Approved Document C is the reference, and the flood map for the address is worth a look before anything is designed.
Drainage that actually works in wet ground. A soakaway is no use where the water table comes up to meet it, so in Rockbourne the answer is normally a positive fall to a channel, a gully and an outfall that keeps working when the ground is already full. A permeable build up over open graded stone gives the water somewhere to sit rather than run.
Edges, steps and retaining. A haunched edging or kerb keeps the build up together, a retaining edge with coping holds a change of level, and steps are set out with equal risers. What we avoid is a solid retaining line running across the natural flow of water, because that is exactly how a patio becomes a dam.
Jointing and the repairs. Joints get a brush in resin compound worked wet and tooled off, or mortar pointing on an older stone terrace. Repairs in Rockbourne follow the flooding: lifted slabs, a sunk corner, rocking paving over a washed out bed, cracked stone, algae, efflorescence on new sandstone and silt staining left behind by standing water.
How it runs
A patio that drains, from dig to jointing
Thomas comes out to Rockbourne, measures the area, checks the levels against the damp proof course, and looks at where water sits now. He prices it himself, and the written quote covers the digging and carting away, the hardcore base, how the surface will shed water, any edging or steps, the paving itself, and the joints.
On a Rockbourne plot that holds water, the base goes deeper and the patio is laid to fall away from the house to a drain or a gravel strip, never to the wall. Stone comes in through the side or the house, so the route is agreed first. The site is left safe and swept each day, and waste leaves with us. If we find something buried, you are sent a photo and a figure first.
A patio at ground level in a back garden is usually permitted development, with no planning application. Building control only comes in for a retaining structure. Whether the village has its own conservation area is worth checking with New Forest District Council, and the interactive property map can help you check an address.
Cost
What makes one patio cost more than another
A Rockbourne patio has no rate per square metre. The slabs you choose are often the smallest part of the price. Access. A cottage close to the stream, a house behind a gated drive, and a property with a narrow side path are different jobs. If every slab and every bag of spoil is carried by hand, that time goes on the quote.
What comes out. Old concrete, roots or rubble must be dug out and taken away, priced by the load.
Water. On wet ground the sub base is deeper, and the patio needs a fall and somewhere for the water to go.
Levels. A patio must finish below the damp proof course, usually two courses down. If that cannot be done, a channel drain is needed.
Laying. A full mortar bed lasts longer than dabs and costs more. The jointing compound matters too, since some stay softer and hold up better on ground that moves.
Ask anyone else how deep they will dig, what base they will use, how the slabs are bedded, and which jointing they will use.
If it has become a hazard
A patio that has sunk, lifted or turned green
A slab lifted at a corner or a dropped step is a trip, so mark it. A shaded Rockbourne patio can turn slippery in winter. If the garden is holding water, ring while it is still standing, because seeing where it sits tells us more than a dry survey.
Ring rather than using the form. Patio work is booked Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm, and a missed call gets returned as soon as we are free. The first visit lifts and relays the worst of it where we can, and checks whether the base underneath has given way.
The local part
A patio can dam a garden that floods
Parts of Rockbourne sit in flood zone 2 and flood zone 3, with Sweatfords Water running close by. In practice that means water arriving over the surface when the stream is high, and at other times groundwater rising up from underneath after a wet spell. Both matter when you are building a level platform in a garden.
The costly mistake in Rockbourne is a raised terrace with a solid edge, built across the line the water used to take. It works perfectly for two years and then a wet winter comes, the water backs up behind it, and instead of crossing the garden and going on its way it stands against the house. A patio built without thinking about flow can genuinely make flooding worse.
So on ground like this the terrace is designed around the water rather than in spite of it. We keep the finished level clear of the damp course with room to spare, avoid running a continuous retaining line across the flow, put in channels and an outfall that still work when the ground is saturated, and use a permeable build up where a soakaway would simply fill. It is worth checking the flood map for your own address before you settle on a shape.
Who you are dealing with
Patios priced by the man who owns the firm
Our base in Boscombe is 16 miles from Rockbourne. We lay patios in the village, Whitsbury, Sandleheath and along the Avon valley in SP6, with New Forest District Council as the council.
Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, and is owned by Thomas Hannen, who comes out to measure and price your patio himself. On Checkatrade, a verified customer has marked us 10 out of 10. The visit is free, and the written quote with every item on it is free too. A front drive on flood ground changes where the water runs as well, so a driveway in Rockbourne is designed around the same flow. Before you book a visit in Rockbourne, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Rockbourne?
Most repairs in Rockbourne 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 Rockbourne |
|---|---|
| Who decides | New Forest District Council is the planning authority for Rockbourne. The National Park boundary runs close by, and the Park's property map shows which side an address falls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Rockbourne Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Rockbourne. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | Yes: Rockbourne is inside the Cranborne Chase National Landscape, so check before building anything raised or seen from the lane. |
Questions
Questions about patios in Rockbourne
Can a new patio make flooding in the garden worse?
Yes, and on ground like this it is a common fault. A raised platform with a solid edge across the line water used to take will back it up, and the water then stands somewhere it never used to, often against the house.
Is a soakaway any use on ground this wet?
Usually not: a soakaway only empties into ground that is drier than it is, and when the water table has come up there is nowhere for it to go. Here it is normally a positive fall to a channel and an outfall that keeps working when everything is saturated.
Will paving survive being under water occasionally?
Porcelain will, because it takes up no water and does not stain. Porous stone shows a tide line and silt gets into open joints. What actually fails is the base, so compaction and a separator matter far more here than the choice of slab.
How do I find out whether my garden is in a flood zone?
The government flood map covers it by address and takes a couple of minutes. It is worth doing before you decide on a shape or a level, because it changes the design rather than just the price.
Why do slabs in a wet garden start rocking after a few years?
Because ground that saturates and dries out repeatedly moves, and the bedding washes out from under anything that was not laid on a full bed. Once there is a void the slab pumps water every time you step on it and the movement accelerates.
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Have the water looked at before the shape is decided
Thomas comes out, sees where the water arrives and where it can go, and prices the work in writing. The visit and the quote are free.