Reduce the level
Depth is dictated by the finished height at the door and what the ground is made of, so it gets dug until it stops giving. Made-up ground and buried slabs come as standard on older plots.
Patios & paving
Paving that sits where it was put
Porcelain, sandstone, circles and paths across Rotherham. Reduced to solid ground, rebuilt in lifts, and set out so the rain has somewhere to go before the first slab is bedded.
Grey porcelain laid to a pebble margin against the fence, with the grass line running square off the paving edge.
Underneath
Four layers, and the paving is only the last one
Nearly every patio that fails does so for the same short list of reasons. This is the build-up we work to and what each part is actually doing.
Build it back up
Aggregate in shallow lifts, each one compacted before the next. It is slower than one deep fill and it is the difference between a patio that holds its line and one that dips under the table legs.
Set the water route
Before anything is bedded we decide where the rain is going. A gentle fall away from the brickwork, and a drainage run across any threshold that sits low against the finished level.
Bed, cut, joint
Solid bed under every slab, primer where the material calls for it, cuts made rather than fudged, then jointed and rinsed off so it is handed over clean.
Porcelain
Porcelain paving
Barely porous, colour stable and about as low maintenance as an outdoor surface gets. The marks that soak into natural stone sit on the surface of it, so a hose and ten minutes puts it right. The trade-off is in the laying: every slab is primed on the back, cuts have to be right first time and the bed has to be full, because porcelain gives you nothing to hide behind.
- Slurry primer on the back of every slab
- Full wet bed, never dabs in the corners
- Falls set off the house before a slab is laid
- Clean cuts around gullies, covers and door thresholds
- Dark trim, brick or contrasting banding to break up a big run
Sandstone
Sandstone, circles and features
Natural stone gives you something porcelain cannot: warmth, variation, and shapes that are not rectangles. A sandstone circle set into a lawn or at the far end of a garden creates somewhere to sit that is not just an extension of the back door, which is usually what a long garden is short of.
- Circle kits set out true and cut into the lawn line
- Riven, sawn and tumbled finishes
- Curved and radius edges cut on site
- Pointed with a proper jointing compound
- Stone paths and stepping stones tying features back to the terrace
Paths
Paths, edges and margins
The bits between things decide whether a garden reads as designed or assembled. A path down the middle with gravel margins either side, edges that hold the lawn line straight, and a route to the shed that does not turn to mud in November.
- Paved paths and stepping stone runs
- Gravel and pebble margins to keep splash off fences and walls
- Edge restraints that hold a lawn or grass line dead straight
- Level thresholds so nothing catches underfoot
- Routes set out around how you actually cross the garden
Levels and steps
A garden that steps down is not a problem. It is two rooms instead of one.
Sleeper beds, stone walling and a proper flight of steps turn a drop into a terrace you eat on and a lawn the kids get, instead of one long slope nobody quite uses.
Customer reviews
Paving customers
“really happy with these had a full garden patio installtion and a sunmer hiuse built, astroturf in the middle looks so good i coukdnt he happier desfinetly worth going with”
Alfie H.Customer Review
“Got my turf levelled by Charlie and his team had a right hand full to get a decent landscaper and these did the job well which is hard to find without been messed about by others”
Bailey H.Customer Review
“Really pleased with the work carried out on my garden. Professional, reliable, and completed everything to a high standard. Would definitely recommend”
Charlie C.Customer Review
These reviews were left for GreenForge and are printed exactly as they were written, spelling included. Surnames are shortened to an initial.
Where we work
Rotherham and the villages around it
RotherhamWickersleyMaltbyDinningtonSwintonRawmarshWath upon DearneKiveton ParkThurcroftAstonBramleyBrinsworthCatcliffeTreetonWhistonGreasbroughKimberworthThorpe HesleyAnstonLaughtonTodwickRavenfieldWalesHarthillWaverley
Not on the list? Ring 01709 246009 and we will tell you there and then whether we can get to you.
Free quote
Price up your paving
Send the form or pick the phone up. Someone comes out, walks the garden, checks the levels and how we get materials in, and you get a written price with the groundwork costed separately from the finish. The visit costs nothing and nobody rings you every fortnight afterwards.
- Emailinfo@greenforgelandscapers.co.uk
- Based inRotherham, South Yorkshire
- CoveringRotherham and the surrounding villages
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