Front patio rebuild

MothballsWallet

Hello, my wife and I want to get some quotes from contractors in the Coventry area to rebuild the "patio" outside the front of our house because its slabs are cracking and the sand underneath is allowing weeds to grow through, so we'd like to get it replaced with something like block paving.

Does anyone have any recommendations for contractors to contact and get quotes from please? We've got some suggestions from the free "Your Call" magazine that comes through our door every other month, so the more for us to consider, the better!

EssexExile

You won't get rid of weeds by having block paving laid! https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6393610/any-suggestions-on-how-to-get-rid-of-these-from-block-paving-driveway/p1

FreeBear

If you are having the paving out front replaced, you may need planning permission. See - https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/paving-your-front-garden/planning-permission

When it comes to getting quotes, you need to ask a few questions on what the work entails. For areas that will be used for parking, you need at least 150mm of compacted hardcore put down (crushed rubble/concrete or MOT1, not random lumps of rubble). 200mm would be better... The finished level of the paving should be a minimum of 150mm below the level of the DPC of your house. Depending on the type of surface installed, you may need linear drains at the low point plumbed in to a suitable soakaway.

I have found the Paving Expert web site to be a valuable source of information - Worth reading what the guy has to say. Once you have an idea of how a job should be done, you stand a better chance of avoiding the cowboys by asking the right questions. Unfortunately, if you are paying someone to do the whole job, it isn't going to be particularly cheap.

MothballsWallet

Okay, thanks for all the answers so far: I decided to take a couple of photos.

This photo shows what our front patio looks like right now:



(I call it a "patio" because that's what it looks like to me, but it probably isn't really a patio.) This next photo shows what our neighbours did with theirs and this is what we're thinking of changing ours to:



I'll check with our local council if we'd need planning permission to do this, as recommended by @FreeBear.

FreeBear

MothballsWallet said: I'll check with our local council if we'd need planning permission to do this, as recommended by @FreeBear.

2.49m by 1.72m is 4.28m² - You only need to apply for planning if the area exceeds 5m² and you plan on using impervious paving. Block paving as used by the neighbour is (generally) permeable as long as they are not set in concrete, so again, PP not needed.

Just watch out for cables when you start digging - The cables going to that brown box are not likely to be buried very deep.