Patios, paths & hard landscaping in Macclesfield
The same crew, the same groundworks and the same rules, applied round the back. A patio is a driveway that does not have to carry a car, which changes the depths and the bedding but changes nothing about drainage, falls, edge restraint or how much of the job happens before anything is laid.
Falls and thresholds are what separate a good patio from one that puddles or, worse, one that puts water against the house. A paved area should fall away from the building at roughly 1:80, and the finished surface should sit at least 150mm below the damp proof course — where a door threshold makes that impossible, a linear channel or a slot drain across the doorway is the proper answer rather than simply building up to the door and hoping.
Porcelain has taken over the patio market for good reasons and it is worth understanding what it needs. It is dense, near non-porous, frost-resistant and does not stain — but that same density means it has to be laid on a full mortar bed with a slurry primer on the back of every slab, because nothing else will bond to it. Porcelain laid on five dabs of mortar sounds hollow, cracks under load and comes loose in frost.
The extras are increasingly what people ask about at the same time as the drive: a level, properly drained base for an EV charge point and its cable run, a path round the side that does not turn into a bog in November, or a hardstanding and small car park for a business unit. It is all the same trade and it is all quoted the same way — one contractor, one price, nothing hidden below ground.
Patios, paths & extras — every job, in detail.
5 jobs in this category. Each has its own page explaining what's involved, what your contractor checks and — just as importantly — when a job can safely wait.
Patios
A patio built with the same discipline as a driveway — dug out, compacted base, full mortar bed, falls away from the house and the finished surface kept clear of the damp proof course. The bedding and the levels are what separate a patio that lasts from one that rocks and puddles.
Read more →Garden paths & side access
Paths, side access and steps built properly rather than laid on the soil — the small jobs that get skipped and then get walked on every day. Grip, drainage and a firm edge matter more on a path than anywhere else, because this is where people actually fall.
Read more →Porcelain paving
Dense, near non-porous, frost-resistant and virtually stain-proof — and completely unforgiving of how it is laid. Porcelain needs a full mortar bed and a slurry primer on the back of every slab, because nothing else will bond to a surface that absorbs almost no water.
Read more →EV charge point bases & ducting
The groundworks half of an EV charge point — ducting from the consumer unit to where the car parks, a firm level base for a post or bollard, and a parking bay that suits how the cable actually reaches the car. Best done while the drive is open; awkward and visible afterwards.
Read more →Car parks & commercial surfacing
Small car parks, yards, shared accesses and hardstandings for businesses, landlords and management companies — built for the actual loading, drained properly, and phased so the site keeps working while it is being surfaced.
Read more →Not sure which one you need?
Describe it in your own words on the quote form. Your contractor will work out what the job actually is when they ring you back — usually the same day.
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