Patios in Tarrant Monkton, kept off the wall
Many of the older cottages along the valley have no damp proof course at all, so the finished level of a terrace is decided by the wall rather than by the back door.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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On a Tarrant Monkton cottage built before damp proof courses were normal there is no line to lay the patio below, so the rule changes. Instead of finishing two courses under a damp course, the job is to keep water off the foot of the wall altogether: a fall away from it, and a gravel margin or a channel where the surface meets the brick.
On an older property in Tarrant Monkton, check whether the terrace has crept up over the years until it sits against an old wall and the inside is damp, and whether the flags rock because they were bedded on dabs. Some owners simply have a yard of broken concrete they want turning into somewhere to sit.
We survey the whole Tarrant Monkton garden, lift a flag, dig a trial hole to see what is under it and take levels off the building. Then you get it in writing: the dig, the muck away, the sub base, the falls, the drainage, the edgings, the paving and the jointing on separate lines. The site visit and the itemised quote are free.
The work
Terraces against old walls, and what goes under them
Reading the wall comes first. Older cottages in Tarrant Monkton are solid walled, and many have no damp proof course at all. That decides the finished level, the drainage detail and sometimes the material, so it is the first thing we look at rather than the last.
The dig. Old concrete, a brick yard, a former outbuilding base, made ground and roots all get excavated out to a firm formation. Close to an old wall we dig by hand, because the footings on these Tarrant Monkton buildings are shallow and nobody wants a machine finding them.
The sub base. MOT type 1 compacted in layers, or hardcore blinded off on a small yard. Depth is set by the trial hole, not a rule of thumb. A geotextile between the subgrade and the stone stops the two mixing where the ground is soft.
Full bed, never dabs. A full wet mortar bed under each flag, and a slurry primer on the back of porcelain. Not five dabs, not a sand screed. A dabbed flag rings hollow underfoot and cracks across the middle.
Sandstone, limestone and granite. Riven sandstone in a mixed size is what suits Tarrant Monkton cottages best. Limestone and travertine give a flatter, quieter surface. Granite is dense and hard and makes a good step tread or sett border. None is calibrated, so each piece is bedded to its own thickness.
Porcelain where it earns its place. In a walled garden away from the frontage, calibrated porcelain is hard to beat: no absorption, slip rated, and it stays clean under trees with very little doing to it.
Falls, the wall and the drainage. The surface falls away from the building. Against a wall with no damp course we finish low and run a gravel margin or an ACO channel along the foot of it, taking runoff to a gully or a soakaway well away from the footings.
Edges, steps and retaining. A haunched edging or kerb holds the outer course, a retaining edge with a coping holds a bank or a raised border, and step treads get a full bed and an overhang so water drips clear of the riser.
Jointing and repairs. Resin grout brushed in while the joints are damp on calibrated paving, or a softer lime rich pointing where the work meets old fabric, because a hard cement joint against soft brick does damage. We also lift and relay sunk bays, cut out cracked flags, repoint washed out joints and treat staining, efflorescence and a slippery green surface.
How it runs
Laying a patio, from the first visit to the last joint
Thomas comes to see the garden, holds a level against the house wall, watches where the rain runs, and writes the price himself. Thomas is your contact while it is dug, laid and pointed.
The quote splits out the digging and removal of soil, the compacted stone base, the slope we build in and where water drains to, edging and any steps, the stone you have chosen, and the pointing. Behind a Tarrant Monkton cottage with no side way in, soil goes out and stone comes in by barrow, so we agree the route and lay boards over the lawn.
Tools are put away and the garden swept at the end of each day. If we find an old drain, buried concrete or roots that need a tree surgeon, you are shown it with a price attached before anything changes.
Paving at ground level in a back garden is normally permitted development. The Tarrant Valley Conservation Area covers the village, so a front path, a boundary wall or anything seen from the lane gets a closer look than a back terrace. Changing a boundary wall, or hard landscaping fixed to a listed building, can need listed building consent from Dorset Council. Building control takes an interest where the ground level or drainage against the house changes.
Cost
Where the money goes on a patio
Getting the stone in is the first cost. A Tarrant Monkton garden with a wide gate lets a small digger in. A garden reached only through the house means everything carried by hand, which takes days longer. The work at height rules come in where a raised terrace or steps drop to lower ground.
What comes out first. An old concrete base, a raised bed or tree roots all have to be dug and removed, priced by the load. Most of the hidden cost in a patio sits in the dig.
Levels and the damp course. Finished paving has to slope away from the house and stay two brick courses or more beneath the damp proof course. Against an old wall that often means lowering the ground, and on a sloping garden adding a retaining edge or steps.
Stone and bedding. Sandstone, limestone and porcelain each cut and bed differently, and porcelain needs a primer on its back to bond. We lay on a full mortar bed over a compacted sub-base, not on dabs.
Ask anyone else what depth of sub-base they allow, whether it is a full bed or dabs, what jointing they use, and whether the edgings and steps are included.
If it has become a hazard
Slabs that rock, sink or turn slippery
Phone us rather than using the form. A flag that rocks when you step on it, or a step that has sunk, is a trip waiting to happen, and a shaded terrace coated in algae is treacherous in winter.
Until we get there, put a planter on the loose flag so nobody treads on it. On the first visit the worst is lifted and re-bedded, and we check whether the base under the rest has given way. If paving has built up against an old wall and the room behind it is damp, say so on the phone, because every shower is feeding water into that wall. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. When no one answers, a call back comes as soon as we are free.
Worth knowing
Cottages with no damp course, and where the level goes
Older cottages in Tarrant Monkton predate the idea of a damp proof course. The wall is solid, it is built off a shallow footing, and it manages moisture by drying out through its face. There is no barrier in it, which means there is nothing for a patio to sit two courses below.
That is why so many damp problems in old cottages start outside. Ground level creeps up over a century: a path, then a slab over the path, then a terrace over that. Each layer puts the surface a little higher against the wall, rain lands on it and splashes back, and the foot of the wall never gets a chance to dry.
So the work in Tarrant Monkton goes the other way. We take the level down rather than up, fall the surface away from the building, and leave the wall a margin to breathe: usually a gravel filled channel or a linear drain along the base, tied into an outfall away from the footings. It is less paving than people expect for the money, and it is the part that actually fixes the damp.
Who you are dealing with
Who you deal with for a patio up the valley
Tarrant Monkton is fifteen miles from our Boscombe base. We cover the village, Tarrant Keyneston, Tarrant Hinton and the lanes down to the main road, broadly DT11, and Dorset Council is the council. You will be dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, number 15471719. Before you book a visit in Tarrant Monkton, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
It is Thomas Hannen's business, and he comes to see the garden and prices the patio himself. A verified customer has given us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. Both the site visit and the written, itemised quote are free. An old cottage front has the same foot of wall to keep dry, and a driveway in Tarrant Monkton falls away from it in the same way.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Tarrant Monkton?
Most repairs in Tarrant Monkton 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 Tarrant Monkton |
|---|---|
| Who decides | Dorset Council is the planning authority for Tarrant Monkton. Dorset Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Tarrant Valley Conservation Area (Tarrant Monkton). Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Tarrant Monkton. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | Inside the Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape (formerly AONB), so anything visible from outside gets more attention. |
Questions
Questions about patios in Tarrant Monkton
Our cottage has no damp course. How low should the patio be?
Low enough that splashing rain never reaches the base of the wall, and falling away from it. In practice that means dropping the surface and leaving a gravel margin or a drainage channel along the foot of the wall instead of paving tight up to it.
Could our patio be causing the damp inside?
It often is. Where the surface has crept up over the years and now sits high against a solid wall, rain lands on the slabs and soaks the brickwork above whatever protection there is. Taking the level down usually does more than any treatment applied indoors.
Should the joints be mortar or a resin compound?
It depends what the paving touches. A brush in resin grout is quick and clean on calibrated paving away from the building. Where the work meets soft old brick or stone we point in a lime rich mortar, because a hard cement joint damages what it sits against.
Can you dig close to old footings without damaging them?
Yes, by hand. Machinery stays away from the wall and the last stretch is dug with a spade so we can see what we are working next to. Footings on Tarrant Monkton cottages of this age are shallow and were never meant to be exposed.
Do you take the old concrete away or bury it?
It leaves. Broken concrete buried under a new patio is a soft spot waiting to settle, and it stops the sub base compacting evenly. It goes out by barrow to a grab lorry or a skip and appears as its own line on the quote.
Nearby, and next door
Patios near Tarrant Monkton
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Get the level right before the paving goes down
Thomas comes out, looks at the wall, digs a trial hole and prices the dig, the base, the falls, the drainage and the jointing in writing. The visit and the quote are free.