Patio building

wellsie82

Hi there

Me and my partner have recently bought a house and the only thing that needs work to it is the garden!

We did'nt particually want to spend huge amounts on the garden as it's not really a "room" we would be in all the time, but at the same time want it to look decent and be able to sit out there if we wanted to.

We have looked at a few places for paving slabs and picked the ones we would like (if we can afford them).

I have just measured the area we want paving and it's HUGE. Calculated we need 120 slabs :eek: and thats with gaps inbetween them for gravel

We have looked at B&Q, focus and the likes but at around £4 per slab it's working out really expensive. We also have a local building merchant over the road and was wondering if they would be cheaper than the big stores as they are not as well known?

Any help on how to keep this patio cheap would be much apprciated(??)

Thanks

justpaper

120 slabs ..what size are the slabs ?

have u worked out a layout/look u want ? that way u can find cheaper way too build the look feel layout etc etc of the patio,. like ... u may want to slab some areas to save* money and make a path way,. i donno ,.but i do know if u get the slabs cheaper from some where else it wont be that cheap,. really u need a plan

wellsie82

the slabs are 30cm by 60cm

yeah we done a plan awhile ago only on estimates of the area and today we measured it and worked out the actual measurements and got a huge shock

beccatt

Do you really need such a huge paved area? Could you gravel part of it instead? It's a lot cheaper and 100 times easier!!!!
We tackled our 3mx5m patio area this summer - it took a few weekends and a whole week off work to get done as you have to prepare a base and point the slabs after laying them. Don't forget also you really need nice weather to do it in.
I would just make sure you don't bite off more than you can chew. Good luck though!

Rex_Mundi

If I was you, I'd get the phone book out, and ring round builders merchants to get a few quotes for slabs. You may well find a big difference in prices quoted.

You also need to figure in the cost of a membrane at the bottom to stop weeds coming through.

You will also need a good base under the slabs. If you lay them straight on the soil, they will move and look all over the place after a while (up and down, and not flat).

You will need to dig out from the level of the top of the slabs...........

The thickness of the slab.......plus
About 30mm to take account of the sand/cement you are laying on......plus
About 100mm (minimum) to lay a base (scalpings are fine for this).

What will you do with the soil you dig out? Can you spread it around the garden to level out other areas, or do you need a skip to get rid of it? This can be extra cost.

First lay the membrane down, then spread the scalpings for the base. Going on the amount of slabs you need (120 @ 30CM X 60CM), the area works out approx 21.6 square metres (it will be a bit more than that including pointing between the slabs). Going on these measurements. If you lay about a 100mm base, you will need just over 2 cubic metres of scalpings (6M X 3.6M X 0.1M). I would probably look to order 2.5 cubic metres of base for this. You will also need to hire a whacker plate to go over the scalpings, and knock them flat, and settle them.

You will probably need a good jumbo bag of sharp sand for this to lay on plus quite a bit of cement.

Work out all the materails you need and phone around builders merchants for a quote for all of it. You may be able to get a bit of discount if you order all this in one hit (not always though).

justpaper

wellsie82 wrote:

the slabs are 30cm by 60cm

yeah we done a plan awhile ago only on estimates of the area and today we measured it and worked out the actual measurements and got a huge shock

i really agree with beccatt ,. its a huge space to just slab up,. but if u want it too look like that then fair play,. and u did say u wont be using it much,.

i just thought u had a plan of a layout like some thing below,.. and u wanted too know how too create the look cheaper,.

http://www.landscape-design-garden-plans.com/garden-plans.html

Whits

Have you tried putting a 'wanted' add on freeserve?

I just got rid of about 20 slabs on my local one, had loads of enquiries too.

beccatt

I forgot to point you to this site earlier: https://www.pavingexpert.com for lots of useful advice!