Patios & Garden TerracesDesigned to Be Used, Not Just Seen
Natural stone, porcelain, sandstone and concrete slab patios laid on a proper bed with correct falls and pointed to a professional finish. Bring your garden into use for eight months a year, with a 10-year workmanship guarantee behind every square metre.
Rated 4.8★ on Google · £1M insured · Up to 10-year workmanship guarantee
Everything you need to know before you commit
A patio is a level, hard-surfaced garden area built for outdoor living, furniture, dining, entertaining. Ours are laid onto a compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base with a full mortar bed (not five dabs), pointed with a specialist slurry or brush-in compound, and set to correct falls to shed water away from the house.
Any Hampshire homeowner who wants their garden to earn its keep, from a compact courtyard makeover to a wraparound entertaining terrace with steps, planters and lighting integration.
If your existing patio is cracked, uneven, sinking, growing weeds through open joints, or you're extending, re-landscaping or moving furniture outdoors permanently, this is the right time to rebuild it properly rather than patch it up.
Patios fail from underneath. A slab that looks perfect on day one but rocks after one winter has a base problem, and no amount of pointing will fix it. We build the base right, seat every slab on a full mortar bed, and point with materials that don't wash out in a hard rain.
What happens if you delay, or hire the wrong crew
The 'five-dab' patio, where slabs sit on five little blobs of mortar, is the industry's dirtiest secret. It looks fine until the first hard frost, then slabs rock, joints crack, and water gets into the base. Six years later, you're paying for a full rebuild.
Risks of putting it off
- Slabs rocking or sinking after one winter because the bed had voids
- Cracked joints from the wrong pointing compound washing out
- Water pooling against the house because falls weren't set
- Efflorescence and staining on porcelain from bad primer application
- Frost damage on natural stone that wasn't sealed correctly
Common mistakes homeowners make
- Laying over an old patio without excavating and checking the base
- Choosing porcelain without insisting on a slurry primer coat
- Trusting brush-in pointing on wide joints where slurry is the correct answer
- Not setting a 1:80 fall away from the property before the first slab lands
- Selecting slabs online without seeing them wet, in daylight, against the house
Owner-led, from first visit to final sweep
- 01
Design consultation and material selection
Charlie visits, measures the area, and brings sample slabs so you can see colour and texture in real daylight against your walls.
- 02
Fixed written quote
24–48 hours after the visit you get a detailed quote covering slab range, sub-base, bedding, pointing, drainage and cleanup.
- 03
Excavation and sub-base
We dig to the correct depth, remove all spoil, and lay 100–150mm of compacted MOT Type 1 depending on the finished slab and expected use.
- 04
Full mortar bed and slab laying
Every slab sits on a full mortar bed with a slurry primer coat for porcelain, no dabs, no voids, correct falls set from the first slab to the last.
- 05
Pointing and finishing
Joints are pointed with a slurry compound or brush-in polymer as the slab and joint width demand. Edges dressed, adjacent surfaces protected and cleaned as we go.
- 06
Sign-off and guarantee
We walk the patio with you, hand over aftercare, and issue your written 10-year workmanship guarantee.
The measurable benefits you get
Full-bed laying, no dabs
Every slab is bedded fully in mortar with a primer coat where needed. No voids, no frost damage, no rocking slabs after year one.
Correct falls set from day one
A minimum 1:80 fall away from the house directs water where it belongs, not into your walls or foundations.
Porcelain, stone, sandstone or concrete
We install all major categories, from budget-friendly concrete flags to premium Italian porcelain and Indian sandstone.
Slurry pointing that stays put
Wide joints get a slurry mortar; tight joints get a specialist brush-in polymer. Both hold up in Hampshire winters, brush-in on wide joints does not.
Integrated steps, borders and lighting
We build patios as part of the garden, not just a raft of slabs, steps, seat walls, planters and cable runs for lighting all handled.
10-year workmanship guarantee
In writing, on completion, plus the manufacturer's slab warranty. Backed by £1M public liability insurance.
Materials, methods and specification
Patios are simple on paper and unforgiving in practice. Here's the specification we build to on every project, regardless of budget.
Slab options
Indian sandstone (Kandla Grey, Raj Green, Autumn Brown, Mint) for traditional gardens. Italian and Chinese porcelain (20mm) for contemporary schemes and heavy-traffic areas. Reconstituted stone (Marshalls Symphony, Bradstone Peak) for a durable mid-market finish. Natural limestone and granite for premium projects.
Sub-base and bedding
100–150mm compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base as standard, with a 30–40mm class II mortar bed (typically 4:1 sharp sand to cement). Porcelain slabs receive an SBR primer slurry coat before bedding, non-negotiable for a lasting bond.
Falls and drainage
A minimum 1:80 fall away from the property, coordinated to a lawn edge, gravel border, linear channel drain or soakaway as the site demands. Ground levels around door thresholds respected to Building Regs standards.
Pointing
Slurry mortar for wide traditional joints on natural stone. Polymer-modified brush-in compounds only where joint widths suit. We do not use brush-in on wide joints or non-recommended slab types, it's the single biggest cause of patio failure calls we take.
Steps, borders and features
Full steps built off a concrete base with matching risers and treads, seat walls in matching stone or brick, integrated planters, and cable ducts run for outdoor lighting or power sockets so nothing has to be chased in later.
Sealing
Optional after 6–8 weeks, a colour-enhancing or invisible sealer that reduces staining, algae and efflorescence. Recommended for natural stone; usually unnecessary for porcelain.
Real Hampshire projects, real finishes
Answers to the questions we hear most
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Get a fixed, no-pressure quote for your Hampshire project, in 24–48 hours.
Free site visit. Owner-led from day one. Written quotes with no gimmicks and no chasing.