Laid a patio last spring that had shifted three inches inside six months. Not one of ours. That kind of job comes back to bite people, and it usually starts with cutting corners on the groundwork.
We have been laying patios in and around Daventry for years. From NN11 postcodes out towards the Northamptonshire edges, we know the ground conditions here. Clay-bound soil, frost heave, drainage that pulls left when you expect it to go straight.
Right, here is what we actually do:
Every bed we lay goes down on 4:1 sharp sand cement bedding mortar. Properly mixed, properly applied. No dry-brush shortcuts that break up after the first wet winter.
So why does DIY go wrong on sloping or clay-bound gardens? Clay moves. It shrinks in dry summers and swells back up after rain, and if your sub-base is not dug out deep enough and compacted properly, the whole surface follows it. Slopes add runoff pressure underneath the slabs. I have seen well-meaning DIY jobs near Coombe Abbey Country Park, good materials, nice porcelain, all of it rocking like a boat within two seasons because the ground was never prepared right. It is grand to have a go yourself, but some gardens simply will not forgive a shallow foundation.
We do not quote until we have looked at the ground. That matters. You would not believe how often a quote done over the phone turns into a problem on site.
Give us a call on 01327 610215 and tell us what you are working with in Daventry. We will come out and have a proper look. Head over to Daventry Patios to see more of our work.