Patios in West Moors

Finding the damp proof course. On a bungalow it is usually one or two brick courses above the ground and sometimes less, so the first thing we do is scrape the soil back, find it and chalk the DPC on the brickwork. The finished paving sits at least two courses below that line. On plenty of the properties here the old flags are already level with it, which is why the wall behind them is dark and the skirting smells of damp in February.

Lifting what is there. Concrete flags on sand, a slab poured for a greenhouse, a crazy paved path from the sixties. Most lifts by hand and goes out by barrow. Anything reinforced needs breaking, and spoil is priced by the load that leaves.

The dig, and getting the depth back. To finish lower than you started the ground has to come out further than most people expect: excavate to formation, then build back up with sub base and bed. That is why a patio at the right level costs more than one laid on top of the old one, and it is the difference between a dry wall and a damp one.

Base and bed. A geotextile membrane, MOT Type 1 hardcore compacted in layers, a screed of sharp sand to level it, then a full bed of mortar under the whole slab with a slurry primer on the back. Not five dabs. A slab on dabs is hollow underneath, and a hollow slab ends up rocking, cracked and holding water. It is the commonest fault we lift out here, and a proper mortar bed is the cure.

The paving. Porcelain is calibrated, so the thickness never varies and the joints stay even across a wide open area; it also stays clean where a bungalow throws shade close to the ground. Indian sandstone is hand cut and warmer, limestone and granite wear harder, and travertine holds water, which matters more on a low patio than a high one.

Thresholds, edges and channel drains. To walk straight out of a patio door without a step, the answer is a recessed ACO channel along the threshold rather than a raised patio. Open edges get a haunched kerb and a coping, and a shingle border runs along the wall. Where a step is unavoidable we set it at a comfortable rise.

Where the water ends up. The fall runs off the house into the channel, an existing gully or a soakaway clear of the foundations. Where the runoff has nowhere to go we build permeable, a different sub base rather than a different slab.

Jointing and keeping it clean. Joints take a brush in resin compound, a grout slurry or hand pointing in mortar, so nothing washes out and weeds get no start. Efflorescence, the white bloom on new stone, is salts drying out of the bed and it weathers off. Algae and staining are different: they are shade and damp, and that is why the falls matter.

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 with a wide side path, a chalet where the only access is through the kitchen, and a plot open enough for a machine and a skip on the drive are three different jobs. 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.

We cover West Moors village, Station Road, Pinehurst, Moorlands and out towards Ferndown, broadly BH22, under Dorset 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.