Patios in Winterborne Stickland, wet winter ground
The stream here runs only in winter, and so does the water under every garden in the village, which is the half of the year a patio has to survive.
The site visit is free and so is the written itemised quote. Thomas Hannen prices every job himself.
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Winterborne Stickland takes its name from a stream that only runs in winter, and that tells you most of what you need to know about building a patio here. Ground that is bone dry and firm in August can have water standing in a trial hole in February, and a terrace designed in summer is designed on half the evidence.
The faults in Winterborne Stickland are seasonal: a patio that ponds every winter and dries out perfectly by May, slabs that rock after a wet spell and settle down again in a dry one, and a soakaway that percolated fine when it was tested and does nothing at all once the ground is full.
We come out to Winterborne Stickland, dig a trial hole and ask what the garden does in February, because that is the condition the patio has to survive. 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 site visit and the quote are free.
The work
A terrace built for the wet half of the year
Finding out what the ground does. A trial hole is worth more in Winterborne Stickland than anywhere. It tells us how deep the topsoil goes, whether there is chalk, clay or made ground below it, and whether water is already sitting at that depth. Old concrete, roots and rubble come out with the dig and the spoil goes by the load.
The sub base. MOT Type 1 laid and whacked in thin lifts to full compaction and carried past the edge of the paving, with a geotextile separator between the stone and the subsoil. Ground that saturates in winter and shrinks in summer moves, and the separator is what stops fines being pumped up into the base.
Full mortar bed, never dabs. Every slab on a full wet bed with a slurry primer painted on the back. A dabbed slab over ground that floods seasonally has a void underneath that fills every winter, and that is the mechanism behind most rocking patios on Winterborne Stickland ground.
What goes down. Porcelain is calibrated, takes up no water and does not stain, so it comes through a wet winter unchanged. Riven sandstone is warmer, porous and darkens. Limestone marks and suits the chalk stonework of Winterborne Stickland. Granite is the hardest wearing. Travertine is for a dry sheltered corner instead of a garden that sits wet for months.
Levels and the damp course. Paving falls away from the house and finishes at least two courses below the DPC, and in a garden that gets wet in winter that clearance is worth taking in full rather than at the minimum. Approved Document C explains what happens when the damp course is bridged.
Drainage that works in February. This is the part that catches people. A soakaway tested in a dry spell can pass and then do nothing when the water table has come up to meet it. So the design in Winterborne Stickland is normally a channel with a gully and an outfall that keeps working when the ground is already full, with a permeable build up over open graded stone where a hard outfall is not available.
Edges, steps and retaining. A haunched edging or kerb where paving meets grass or a border, a retaining edge with coping where a level is held back, and steps set out with equal risers. On a Winterborne Stickland plot that falls towards the stream line, a continuous retaining edge across the flow is something we avoid rather than something we build.
Jointing and repairs. A brush in resin compound worked wet and tooled off, or hand pointing in a suitable mortar on older stonework. Open joints let winter water straight into the bedding. Then the usual repairs: lifted slabs, a sunk bay, rocking paving, cracked stone, algae on the shaded side, efflorescence on new sandstone and silt staining after standing water.
How it runs
A patio for a cottage garden, from dig to jointing
Thomas comes out to Winterborne Stickland, looks at the garden and the house wall, and finds the damp proof course. He checks which way the ground falls and where water sits after rain, because a patio that sends water back at the house is worse than none.
The quote prices digging out and removing the spoil, the stone sub-base, the falls and where the water drains, any edging or steps, the paving you choose, and the joints. Thomas stays your contact while it is dug and laid.
Most back gardens in Winterborne Stickland are reached through a side gate. On a cottage with no side access, materials come through the house under dust sheets or over a wall. If a lorry can get close, stone comes in bulk; if not, it is barrowed. The dig is made safe each evening and the site swept. Spoil leaves with us. If we dig into old concrete, roots or rubble, we photograph it and price it before digging further.
Dorset Council's records show a conservation area over the historic core, with a couple of dozen listed entries in and around it, so it is worth checking with Dorset Council where the work can be seen from the road. A ground level patio in a back garden is normally permitted development and needs no planning permission, though a terrace raised well above the ground is worth checking first. Dorset Council holds the conservation area and listed building records.
Cost
Where the money goes on a new patio
The slabs you choose are usually a smaller part of the price than people expect. The dig. Old concrete, a raised bed, tree roots or made ground all come out and go away, charged by the load. On chalk, a soft patch may need digging deeper before the base goes in.
The base and bed. A compacted sub-base, then a full mortar bed under every slab. Slabs set on a few dabs rock, crack and trap water underneath.
Levels and the damp course. A patio has to fall away from the house and finish well below the damp proof course. On a sloping garden that means steps, a retaining edge or a channel drain. A patio laid too high against the wall is the costliest mistake there is.
Carrying. A garden reached only through the house means every slab and bag goes in by hand, and that is priced honestly. Steps and banks still bring barrows and machinery under the work at height rules.
Matching. Beside a listed house, a natural stone that suits the building costs more than concrete slabs.
Ask other quotes how deep the dig is, whether the slabs go on a full bed, and where the water goes.
If it has become a hazard
A slab that rocks, or a step that has sunk
Phone us about this one rather than using the form. A slab lifted at one corner or a step that has dropped is a trip, and a shaded patio can go dangerously slippery in winter. Block off the worst of it until we arrive.
On the first visit we lift and re-lay the dangerous slabs and check whether the base under the rest has failed. If water is standing on the patio now, take a photo while it is there, because once it dries nobody can see where it sat. Scheduled work runs Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. Anything urgent, ring us, and we return any call we miss as soon as we can.
Worth knowing
The ground here is not the same in February
A winterbourne is a stream that runs only in the wetter half of the year. It does that because the water table in the chalk rises through the autumn and winter until it reaches the surface, and falls again through the spring. The stream is simply the visible part of something that is happening under every garden in Winterborne Stickland.
That is why a patio in Winterborne Stickland can behave like two different patios. In summer the ground is firm, trial holes are dry, a soakaway percolates and everything looks straightforward. By February the same ground is saturated, the soakaway has nowhere to empty into, water that used to disappear now stands, and the bedding under any slab laid on dabs is sitting in it.
So we ask a slightly awkward question at the survey: what does this garden do in the winter? The answer changes the design. It usually means taking the level clearance below the damp course in full rather than at the minimum, putting in a channel and an outfall that still work when the ground is full instead of relying on a soakaway, compacting the base properly on a separator, and bedding every slab fully so there is no void for winter water to sit in.
Who you are dealing with
The owner who comes to price your patio
Thomas Hannen checks the levels and prices your patio himself, because it is his business. The company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, working from a base at 80a Wolverton Road, Boscombe, around 19.1 miles from Winterborne Stickland. Before you book a visit in Winterborne Stickland, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.
We build patios in the village, Winterborne Whitechurch, Turnworth and down the Winterborne valley, broadly DT11, under Dorset Council. Checkatrade lists a verified customer's 10 out of 10 for our work, and we charge nothing for the visit or for the written quote with every item set out. A front drive on ground that floods seasonally needs the same winter planning, and a driveway in Winterborne Stickland gets it.
Planning at a glance
Do you need planning permission in Winterborne Stickland?
Most repairs in Winterborne Stickland 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 Winterborne Stickland |
|---|---|
| Who decides | Dorset Council is the planning authority for Winterborne Stickland. Dorset Council's heritage pages set out what it controls. |
| Conservation area | Yes: Winterborne Stickland Conservation Area. Check whether your street is inside the boundary before changing anything visible. |
| Listed buildings | Yes, there are listed buildings in and around Winterborne Stickland. If yours is one, work can need listed building consent. |
| Protected landscape | Inside the Dorset National Landscape (formerly AONB), so anything visible from outside gets more attention. |
Questions
Questions about patios in Winterborne Stickland
Why does my patio only pond in winter?
Because the water table under Winterborne Stickland rises in the wetter months. Ground that takes water away in August is full by February, so anything relying on it soaking away stops working. The fall and the outfall have to work when the ground is already saturated.
My soakaway passed a test but still floods. How?
It was almost certainly tested in a dry spell. A soakaway can only empty into ground that is drier than it is, and once the water table has come up there is nowhere for it to go. Here we would rather build a channel to a real outfall.
Should the patio be surveyed in winter rather than summer?
Winter tells you more, so if you can ring while the garden is wet, do. If it is July we dig a trial hole and ask you what happens in February instead, because that is the condition the terrace has to survive.
Why do slabs rock in wet weather and settle again when it dries?
Because they were bedded on dabs. The voids under them fill and empty with the seasons, the bedding softens and the slab pumps every time you tread on it. A full mortar bed leaves nowhere for the water to collect.
Does a patio need to be higher in a village like this?
Not higher, but the clearance below the damp course is worth taking in full, not at the minimum, and the paving still has to fall away from the house. Raising the level to beat the water is how people end up bridging the damp course.
Nearby, and next door
Patios near Winterborne Stickland
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Have the ground judged on its wet season
Thomas comes out, opens a trial hole, asks what the garden does in February and prices the work in writing. The visit and the quote are free.