Ninety per cent of a patio is underground
The flags are the last afternoon of the job. Everything that decides whether your patio is still flat and dry in ten years happens before them: how deep the dig went, how well the stone base was compacted, whether the falls carry water away from the house or into it. Much of the Black Country sits on clay that swells and shrinks with the weather, which is exactly the ground that punishes shortcuts. So when our quote shows more groundworks than the cheapest one on the table, that is not padding, that is the job.
The same logic runs through our walls. A garden wall is a structure with a foundation, movement joints and a coping that sheds water, or it is a queue of bricks waiting for the first hard frost.
Compare quotes on what is written down
Landscaping quotes are hard to compare because the corners are invisible: sub-base depth, bedding method, drainage. Ours puts them in writing, dig depth, base specification, full mortar beds, where the water goes, so you can hold us to it and hold other quotes against it. If two prices differ by a third, the difference is under the flags, and now you can see it.
A patio is a shallow structure sitting on the heavy clay found across much of the Black Country, ground that heaves and shrinks with the seasons. The sub-base and the falls decide whether it is still flat in ten years. That is where our time and your money mainly go, and rightly so.
Book a free site visitWhat the work covers
Patios and walls, in detail
Groundworks and sub-bases
Dug out to firm ground, compacted stone sub-base laid in layers. On clay this is not optional, it is the whole difference between flat and failed.
Natural stone and porcelain
Indian sandstone, porcelain and concrete flags laid on full mortar beds, never dot and dab, which is why our flags do not rock or drum underfoot.
Drainage and falls
Falls set away from the house, channel drains where levels demand them, water discharged somewhere sensible rather than against your damp proof course.
Garden and retaining walls
Boundary and feature walls on proper footings with movement joints, copings and weathering details. Retaining walls built to hold ground, with drainage behind them.
Steps and level changes
Sloping West Midlands gardens turned into usable terraces with steps built to consistent, comfortable rises rather than whatever the levels left over.
Repairs and rebuilds
Leaning or frost-damaged garden walls taken down and rebuilt, reusing the original brick where it is sound.
How it works
Visit. Price. Build.
We price nothing until we have stood on site and seen the job.
Free site visit
We come out, measure up and listen to what you want from the space. No charge and no pressure to go ahead.
Fixed written quote
An itemised quote in writing. The figure we agree before work starts is the figure on the final invoice.
Build and handover
One point of contact through the job, a site left tidy every evening, and a full walkthrough at handover.
Questions
Questions, answered straight
How much does a new patio cost?
Materials set the headline, sandstone, porcelain and plain flags all price differently, but groundworks and drainage are the half of the job people forget to compare. Two quotes for the same flags can differ mainly in how much sub-base each firm intends to put under them. Ours is itemised so you can see exactly that.
Do I need planning permission for a patio or garden wall?
Patios almost never need permission, though drainage rules apply to large impermeable areas, which is one reason we design falls and soakaways properly. Garden walls are limited to two metres, or one metre next to a highway, before planning is needed. We flag it if your plans cross a threshold.
How long does a patio take to lay?
A typical patio takes one to two weeks depending on size, access and how much ground has to come out. Walls, steps and drainage add time. Freshly laid areas need a few days before furniture goes on, and we tell you the realistic date, not the hopeful one.
Why is my old patio sinking or rocking?
Almost always the bedding: flags laid on dabs of mortar or straight onto poor ground, so water gets underneath and the clay moves them. The honest fix is to take the affected area up and rebuild the base. Re-levelling flags on a failed base is money spent twice, and we will say so.
Where we work
Based in Wolverhampton, covering the West Midlands
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