All Patio Design | Patio Construction - The Process

As with all construction work the process that must be carried out to achieve longevity varies between contractors. The object of this section is to explain in relative detail how the patios that All Patio Design construct are carried out.

This is to assure the client who needs a landscape patio constructed that the best methods and quality of work are provided by All Patio Design.

All Patio Design have been trading for over 30 years and over that time fashion has played a large part in the choices of products that people have wanted to use in the garden patio projects. Because of this experience All Patio Design has evolved its own construction methods that provide quality and longevity. Most material used for landscape patios are old style crazy paving, concrete or stone and manufactured paving slabs from concrete, also bricks, such as stock bricks which are hard and can be used outside (not fletens which are not hard on all sides and will not be frost proof long term) and also the manufactured concrete paving blocks which will be covered next in our section on construction of block drives.

The process for All Patio Design on paving patios is coherent and standard for all patio work. Firstly the site for the paving has to be inspected to ascertain a number of things; access to the site itself and access to power and water. To also establish what is currently the surface of the area to be paved. This in turn will define what preparation is required to be carried out before the paving products of the clients choice is to be carried out. The area should be cleared of all old paving rubble, grass and soil to allow the landscaped patio to be constructed at least two courses below the damp course, also the paving must slope away from the house to ensure that the rainwater will flow away and not cause a damp problem or rest on the patio which will make it unpleasant to use after rain or indeed walk over whilst it is raining.

The area once cleared can then be inspected ready for the commencement of paving. If any areas are soft underfoot then further digging is required to remove these soft areas to firmer ground then filled with compacted hardcore to provide a solid base to pave over. All patios are constructed in the same way as has be proved by All Patio Design over many years that this process does provide the longest lifetime for the patio desired.

The patio then is started to be constructed using a sharp sand and cement mix with water to make a very hard base once dried, equal to concrete and the paving is laid immediately on this. The mix should wet enough to stick to the paving slabs, therefore making sure no paving slabs move once the concrete has set.

The next stage is to mix up again a strong cement and sand mix to fill the joints in between the paving, this is known as pointing. The pointing can be coloured with dye to match the paving if it is necessary to get the mix a closer colour to the paving product.

Again sharp sand should be used as this will set hard and not wear as quickly as soft sand if used on its own. However soft sand can be added to the sharp sand when mixing which will alter the colour of the pointing, that may be worth doing to match more closely the paving that clients have chosen.

The mix should be a one to four part cement to sand to enable the pointing to go off very hard yet not so hard that it will crack and allow weeds to grow through, but yet pliable enough to allow movement with the various variants in weather.

Finally there are various products on the market that will seal the patio, this of course is entirely up to the clients discretion as to whether they decide to carry out this operation.

The sealing of the patio has only in the last ten years come about, if deciding to do this it is advised to paint the sealant on a spare piece of patio stone or paving slab just to see how, if at all it will change the colour of the paving. Once happy with the result it is a simple paint on solution and cannot hurt to help with the longevity of the patio itself.