Question please

Hello

I live in the South .. I depserately need a Patio . Can anyone give me some advice on what I should expect to pay for 10 mtrs by 10 mtrs. I would need everything doing. Many thanks

 

That is a heck of a patio. Only suggestion I have is to shop around and ask for the address of a couple of jobs already done so you can inspect their workmanship and ask the householder how has it faired. Cheers, Tony.

 

Thanks , I probably have over estimated...Its a big back garden . Probably could get away with something half the size... Sadly , my brain only seems to work in feet and inches :o

 

some ideas

Hi,
The very first thing you need to have is an idea of your own likes & dislikes ref this patio,

It's something for you and you alone to enjoy firstly, those times when you just want to chill out, an evenings glass of what you like after the days nearly over,

Maybe you like the sound of water " a water feature to your design"

Lighting, soft lights uplifting walls or trees, large potted up urns with leaves leaning over the edges,

A statue or two, could be of a woman holding a vase of flowers or a male holding his bunch of plums

Even an old red telephone box feature "full of plants or maybe the phone box fitted for an outside shower, "What a feature" and one you'll not see tomany off. (these old red phone kiosk can still be found for sale "use google")

What im saying is "Dont just have an Patio" have a dream and make it come true that you'll enjoy first and others second.

After all the patio can only really be enjoyed during the nicer weather
so go for it, but have a plan ready to show who ever you employ to make "YOUR" dream work and not the patio builders dream of how he/she wants it to work out.

I find nothing more cold on a hot day than a patio that looks like the normal bbq, seating area, and flagged concrete flooring,
(no wonder so many people sleep all day on such a patio, it's enough to cause the cells in ones brain to die):gaagh:

 

Thanks for the replies ... Lovely ideas Moonraker but I have a very ' limited' budget.. As the years go by , I will indeed have Statue's and would love a special Patio... Until then , I will have to go for the BNQ cheapy option.. I was given 2 quotes today, they both were in the £0000 bracket !! Where are the good old days when someone would cheerfully do it for a few hundred

 

Tis the Gubernment goosegogs
Now when a builder/worker buys one thousand bricks, and one ton of sand/cement, they are looking for £4k of building work through his books.

He can no longer employ a couple of on the side workers, as they have to have CSI Cards, and he has to show he has paid THEIR TAX
All invoices are linked through sales, to end product
ie Jewson/etc have to show also where one thousand bricks went too, for their books

So you are down to some helpful friends and family as your options

Rome was not built in a day, is it possible for you to do a little at a time ?
Using plentiful advice from forums

Regards and Welcome to GC

Jack McHammocklashing

 

Goosegog, is it not possible to just grab a few mates and make them work for beer? That's what I usually do, although I built my patio almost entirely by myself. Its not anywhere near as hard as I was expecting. I like my one, but it wont be to everyone's taste, but only because of the materials I used. I used broken paving slabs because I happened to already have loads of them, but I guess it would be just as easy to do it with nice stones.

My point is that you don't really need someone to come in and do it properly. It will cost several grand I reckon to get a chap in, but apart from materials, all you need is a tape measure, some string, a spirit level, and a few other basic tools, and some muscles (either your own or your mates').

 

Bless you all . I think the very best thing would be to see if anyone can help. When I lived n the town ( Guildford) I always knew someone who knew someone etc... Since moving to this Village , I seem to have cut myself off from the world .. Still thanks again for all the advice and I will ask around :WINK1:

 

I think you will be quite supprised living in a village, just have a chat to someone, and they will know someone, or the local farmer or his workers, will come across something, and deliver it to you for beer
By chat I mean do not go and ask for a patio, just general chit chat and it will be picked up that you want to input to the village and help should appear

Good luck in your venture

Jack McHammocklashing

 

My patio is tiny by comparison (30' x 20').
I did it in 2 stages - as I could afford it and used the cheapest concrete composite slabs (90p each at the time). Stage 2 was 5 years later.

I had a Grass "Patio" which converted to paving when I could afford it.

The patio has been complete now for 15+ years and, even though the slabs were cheap, none have cracked yet. - sods law dictates I've just tempted fate

As houses are sold people often get rid of installed patios to allow Conservatories, decking etc. to be fitted.
Keep an eye out on Gumtree, Newspaper Sales ads or Supermarket noticeboards for people looking to get rid of paving slabs. You could save a lot of cash.