Advice on patio please

Tahiti

Right, we've got a crazy paving patio that at best looks awful. I can't decide whether to rip it up and start again or to build on it, or even to build a decking on it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I need to work out the best option, and need to know the pitfalls (and costs) of the three ideas really: -

1. Rip up and start again
2. Build a concrete slab patio on top of the existing patio
3. Build decking over the top

Cheers!!

woodbutcher_2

How much room do you have to play with? The current regs are that there needs to be 150mm from the bootm of door cills to the top of whatever you have outside the door.What height do you have?

Weymouth_Man

Decking is very popular at present, we changed our uneven grass / path to elevated decking last year, the best thing we have done so far in the back garden, a lot depends if your current patio is level, if so this would make the job a lot cheaper & simpler.

Most DIY centres like Wicks have help sheets, most useful even if you then buy elsewhere.

tomstickland

Rip it up, start again. Don't do decking, go for some nice neutral slabs.
Me and a friend just built such a patio and it looks the deal. Only took 4-5 hours.
Dug hole.
Filled with dry mix of cement and gravel.
Layed slabs on multiple mortar spots.
Leveled with mallet and spirit level.
Brushed dry mortar - sand mix down the gaps.
Job jobbed.

Much better than decking which will rot and be considered suddenly very naff in a few years time.

Tahiti

woodbutcher wrote:

How much room do you have to play with? The current regs are that there needs to be 150mm from the bootm of door cills to the top of whatever you have outside the door.What height do you have?

I had to check that. The answer to that is quite simple - about 120mm from the bottom of the door sill currently so already up against the current regs!

Weymouth_Man wrote:

Decking is very popular at present, we changed our uneven grass / path to elevated decking last year, the best thing we have done so far in the back garden, a lot depends if your current patio is level, if so this would make the job a lot cheaper & simpler. Most DIY centres like Wicks have help sheets, most useful even if you then buy elsewhere.

The patio's level - in fact it's too level as water stays on the surface. I like the look of decking, but have to wonder what it will be like in 10 years time. That's the only real thing that's holding me back.

tomstickland wrote:

Rip it up, start again. Don't do decking, go for some nice neutral slabs.
Me and a friend just built such a patio and it looks the deal. Only took 4-5 hours.
Dug hole.
Filled with dry mix of cement and gravel.
Layed slabs on multiple mortar spots.
Leveled with mallet and spirit level.
Brushed dry mortar - sand mix down the gaps.
Job jobbed.

Much better than decking which will rot and be considered suddenly very naff in a few years time.

4-5 hours to sort out a patio? Now that's what I call quick! The rotting (and potentially slippy surface) do put me off decking a bit.

I think I will re-slab, but Woodbutcher's got me wondering about height to the door sills now! I don't fancy ripping up the old stuff if it can be helped - it's pretty darned solid.

woodbutcher_2

I wouldn't worry too much.The problem is if you go above the damp course,you may bridge the brickwork and cause some damage.The current regs dont allow for older properties and there are plenty out there without the 150 gap.You could use 30mm slabs spotted on mortar and keep the gap as big as poss.Problem is,it needs to be higher at the house to create a fall away from the property.

Alan_M_2

You shouldn't be spotting slab stones externally, it should all be going down onto a solid bed.

Voids under external pavers are what causes the cracking, water and moisture finds it's way into the vids, freezes in winter, expands and fractures the slabs.

Solid bed is the way to go.

woodbutcher_2

Taken from the Bradstone catalogue:-

Slabs should be laid on 5 generous "spots" of mortar mixed at a ratio of 5 parts sand to one part cement.It also says that the mortar should be workable so the spots spread out and fill the voids.This is what i was trying to get at but it's difficult to explain to a lay person without confusing them.

It also mentioned that the slabs should be 150mm below damp course but in my experience,that is not always possible.

Alan_M_2

That's poor advice, spotting never fills out to provide a solid bed.

Tahiti

I'll check the damp course issue. Thanks for the tips.

tomstickland

Depends on how generous the spots are. You need some voids to allow the slab to be tapped into position. When we did the patio the other week, the spots were generous so in the end it pretty much turned out to be like a bricklaying course with two large V's in it.

I don't fancy ripping up the old stuff if it can be helped - it's pretty darned solid.

Hire a breaker from a tool shop.