patio bed - help !

charlotte99

Got two quotes for a patio of around 43-45 square metres. One says bed of compacted aggregate to depth of 3 ins, blind area with lean mix of sand and cement. The other guy said this wasn't correct and it should be concrete base, otherwise over time it will sink. Which is right ? or are they both basically saying same thing ?, the first one is slightly cheaper and I got proper written quote( I have used them before and they were good on price). The second was slightly more expensive and he did the price there and then and was also better with ideas.

I need some help with this as I'm on my own and have no idea what's the right building approach to this.

robatwork

I'm no builder but....
When I had a patio laid of a similar size he went down more like 3 feet than 3 inches.

I expect with only a 3in foundation you won't want to put anything on there at all, including yourself.

laurel7172

My patio is laid on about (probably less than) three inches of sand and cement. It's 25 years old, and I've been in the house for 15.

Yes, I have had to re-lay some slabs, mostly due to the actions of tree roots, but I'm no builder either and I managed. And it could be done easily and cheaply, which I don't suppose would be the case if a concrete base had cracked.

societys_child

I've always laid flags on a 10:1 sand/ cement screed with no problems - lots of info here

charlotte99

oops yes it does say they will 'lower groundwork to allow for new finished height to remain below existing airbricks ....the 3 ins is the compacted aggregrate not just digging down 3 ins .. ...