Teesside patio FAQs

£50 to £80 per square metre in concrete slabs, £80 to £120 in natural stone and £100 to £150 in porcelain, supplied and laid. A 25 square metre terrace usually comes to somewhere between £1,300 and £3,700.

Yes. The garden gets measured, the price comes back in writing with the build-up spelled out, and you take as long as you like over it. No charge and no pressure.

Nearly always because it is doing less underneath: a shallower dig, a thinner sub-base, spot bedding instead of a full mortar bed, or the old patio staying on site. Compare those four lines rather than the totals.

It should be itemised. Lifting and disposing of an old surface is real work and heavy waste, so a quote that never mentions it is a quote worth querying.

A materials deposit is normal because stone and porcelain are ordered in for your job. Handing over most of the total before work starts is not. Stage payments against progress suit both sides.

Stone costs less and mellows into a garden. Porcelain costs more, needs no sealing and stays exactly as bought. The comparison guide sets both sides out in full.

Yes, particularly on large areas and utility spaces. Modern pressed slabs look far better than their reputation, and on a proper base they last decades.

Porcelain or a dense stone. Salt-laden air at Redcar, Marske and Saltburn is harder on soft porous sandstone than an inland garden ever is.

Porcelain never does. Natural stone and concrete are porous, so sealing is an optional way to reduce staining and make cleaning easier, repeated every few years.

Three to five days for a straightforward 20 to 30 square metre terrace: dig out, sub-base, laying and cutting, then jointing. Steps, walls and difficult access extend that.

Excavated ground, then compacted MOT type 1 sub-base to a stated depth, then a full wet mortar bed. Slabs on sand or on five dabs of mortar are the two shortcuts that cause most failures.

About one in eighty, or 12mm per metre, running away from the house, with somewhere for the water to go at the low edge.

The finished surface should stay at least 150mm below the damp-proof course. Where levels make that impossible, a drainage channel along the wall is the recognised answer.

Usually not for a ground-level domestic patio. Raised terraces, listed properties and some conservation areas are the exceptions, and it is worth a call to the council if you are unsure.

Algae on a damp, shaded surface, which most north-facing northern gardens see. Good falls, clear edges and an occasional gentle wash keep it manageable.

Gently. A narrow high-pressure jet held close will strip jointing out and scar soft stone. Keep it wide, low and moving, and be ready to top up the joints afterwards.

A quality brush-in resin compound at the right joint width, or a properly mixed hand-pointed mortar. Dry-brushed sand and cement is the one that crumbles within a couple of winters.

Usually water: a downpipe or overflowing gutter discharging onto the surface, softening the ground beneath. Fix the water first, then relay the slabs, or it will simply happen again.