Want to lay patio

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blueshoes

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hi.

i want to lay some sort of a patio, even just 20 slabs. however my boyfriend has said i will need to dig up the grass and put cement down then lay them. is this true? also is cement hard to mix or should i get a builder to do it? i am quite good at diy stuff and cant see it been that hard.

would appreciate any advice anyone has who has laid there own patio
 
Not quite the same but I laid a base for one of those metal Yardmaster sheds (available from Argos and elsewhere) a few years back and simply dug out the grass to a depth of a few inches, levelled the area as accurately as I could, laid a groundsheet to prevent grass/weeds poking through and then laid several patio slabs on top of that before erecting the shed on the base and bolting it into the slaps at the corner extremities. Having said that it doesn't get the traffic that a patio might and the ground in our garden is very firm which might have helped.

I'm sure that there are plenty of tutorials about how to approach laying a DIY patio on the web. Every time I have dipped into DIY stuff like this I have found a wealth of information once I started searching.
 
Here's a link to probably the best site about for paving/patios:

http://www.pavingexpert.com

They're not that hard to build. Generally, for patios you can lay them on a sand/cement mix once you've got a decent subbase. Preparation of the area (subbase,levelling,falls) is probably the most important part of laying them.
 
Blueshoes, we laid a large patio last year. Ground was already dug out and filled with hardcore which was well set in the ground, having being done two years previously. First of all we laid a special sheeting to prevent weeds from coming up, on top of this we put down builders sand to a depth of six inches mixed with a few shovel fulls of cement. Then each slab was laid and cemented in, making sure to use a spirit level to get them correct. They need to be set slanting away from the house to prevent water and damp. We did the full length of a three bedroom bungalow (back ) When all the slabs are laid brush sand in between each one. We had never done this before and it is a job anyone can tackle provided they are able to move the slabs. We used a small trolley to bring each slab to its resting place.They are very well set in and look fantastic. You can mix small amounts of cement as you go along and 20 slabs is not a lot. Around the outside we put a finish of edging stones at the same level and then small ornamental stones around the edges.
 
thanks for all the advice. I checked up that website, its seems easy enough to do. thanks for that info swallow at least i know now ill be able to mix the cement myself. i wonder how many bags id need for 20 slabs
 
Blueshoes,try two bags to start, I forget as it was last year, but Mr Swallows says he used four shovel sand to one shovel cement and dont make it too wet but just so that the slab sits without moving. I know it is difficult to gauge but once you have done a few you will get the idea. The mix he made was eight shovels of sand to two shovels of cement mixed in the wheelbarrow, this done three sixteen inch slabs or two twentyfour inch slabs. This can all sound confusing for a beginner but you can always contact me by private message because believe me we were beginners and would have welcomed any advice. Our patio turned out very well and is secure so if you need to contact us please do. We will be happy to answer any question you have.
 
I think a 4:1 mix is very rich for laying patio slabs- a 6:1 mix (sand: cement) would be more than adequate.
 
You could do a mix of sand cement, but you would get away with just sand base, then just brush in a dry mix sand ,cement between the gaps and just give them a little watering , should do the trick, if you are handy then do it yourself maybe even ask you BF to help , use a level , if there is a lot of traffic then you could put down a little hardcore, a few bags would do the trick cost no more than 20E
 
blueshoes said:
hi.

i want to lay some sort of a patio, even just 20 slabs. however my boyfriend has said i will need to dig up the grass and put cement down then lay them. is this true? also is cement hard to mix or should i get a builder to do it? i am quite good at diy stuff and cant see it been that hard.

would appreciate any advice anyone has who has laid there own patio
Click to expand...

You will need to dig out all topsoil 300mm down. You then need to lay a miniumum of 100mm-150mm of conctrete to stop subsidance and to stop weeds. Then 50-100mm of sand to bed the slabs in. when the slabs are down , you need to brush a dry sand/cement mix into the joints.

I am availible for a quote if you decide against doing it yourself. My e-mail is mroboyle161@yahoo.co.uk . An honest qoute will be provided
 
Maybe we're chancing it but ....

On only fairly level ground with hardcore of about 18 months settling, we swept it off, covered it with builders film and dry laid it with sand using sand only to balance the slabs, didnt overly fuss about whether everything was level as long as each was level with those surrounding it (i.e. no heights or dips to trip people). Its nearly there, will point it up with mortar. Looks a fine job. Perforated the plastic every so often to root out stones that were unbalancing the slabs & side benefit of allowing for drainage. Quite a big area so only €18 for builders film Vs €18 per weed proof roll and we'd have needed about 5 of them so worth the chance I think - bit of weedkiller down the line if required.

Was using "rustic" type slabs of random size and not perfect edges so I think this helps if you're not trying to be too scientific about it. Wouldnt overdo the sand or sand/cement as the more depth of it you put the more scope for subsidence.

And if the odd one should give trouble isnt it easy fix it - I think people sometimes go for a rolls royce construction job on ornamental features that dont really justify it - only if going to have cars on it should the finer points of construction really become an issue.
 
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