Laying your own patio down

tizzle6560

We are deliberating whether or not we could lay our own garden patio (approx 3 squared metres), but a couple of horror stories leads us to think that getting this done professionally is probable the better option.

Can anyone recommend a contractor in South West London OR convince me that we can in fact do this ourselves?

Many thanks

Herzlos

You're just dropping slabs onto sand and tapping it with a rubber mallet until it's level. It's possibly one of the easiest DIY jobs to do, depending on the size of the slabs you're working with and what is already there. 3x3m is quite a bit patch, but it's still only a day or 2's work depending on how much prep is required.

What slabs do you want and what's on the ground you want to cover already?

What horror stories have you heard?

Ebe_Scrooge

Not difficult to do yourself - I've laid several over the years, both at my own houses and helping friends. It's just a case of taking your time, and preparation is everything. Common sense things like making sure the slabs are level ( actually, in all probability you need to make a slight slope away from the house to let water run off ). Lots of good advice here :


http://www.pavingexpert.com/


It's not a difficult job, and if needs be you can hire tools to make the job easier ( stone cutter if required, cement mixer if you want to lay the slabs on a bed of mortar rather than sand, etc. ) Personally I always lay them on a full bed of mortar - no chance of them shifting, and no weeds to worry about.


But have a good read of that paving expert site, it'll tell you all you need to know and you can judge for yourself whether you think it's within your scope.


If you do decide to get someone in, get at least 3 quotes, and ask to see some of their previous work. A decent contractor will be only too pleased to show you other stuff he's done.

tizzle6560

Herzlos wrote: »

You're just dropping slabs onto sand and tapping it with a rubber mallet until it's level. It's possibly one of the easiest DIY jobs to do, depending on the size of the slabs you're working with and what is already there. 3x3m is quite a bit patch, but it's still only a day or 2's work depending on how much prep is required.

What slabs do you want and what's on the ground you want to cover already?

What horror stories have you heard?

Maybe should clarify a bit more - currently we have lawn where we want to the patio to be, so will have to dig that up first before laying anything down.

I bought 27 x 450 by 450 slabs for a really good price on Gumtree that were leftovers from a job, and can buy the additional ones I need from B&Q.

The patch itself is actually more of a triangle shape so technically more like 1.5m x 1.5m in size.

Horror stories along the lines of patio becoming uneven over time, or just contractors doing a poor job etc., hence why I was asking for recommendations as well.

Thanks

Ebe_Scrooge

tizzle6560 wrote: »

Horror stories along the lines of patio becoming uneven over time

That's entirely down to the preparation. If you lay on top of relatively loose soil then it's going to move. Excavate the area first then lay a properly compacted sub-base to the required depth ( again, refer to Paving Expert ), then you'll have no problems.


It's entirely DIY-able, and even if you end up hiring tools to make life easier for yourself you should be able to do it on a smaller budget than getting someone in ( after all, they do have to make a profit, they're a business not a charity ! )