Wiltshire Patio Builder

Extra all-weather outdoor space with a patio.

With professional patio builder Sam Gingham-Smith in charge, the construction crew take care to follow an excavation and building process that ensures your garden patio is even, drains well and stays in place through the seasonal weather changes.

Patios by Builder S Ginghams Ltd

Transform your garden with a professionally laid patio built to fit your specifications by S Ginghams’ experienced builders.

See more about our professional patio building assurance below.

Our Quality Patio Laying Process

Here’s what you can expect from a professional patio builder like S Ginghams when planning and constucting a quality patio tthat’s built to last:

Planning and Marking Out the Perfect Patio

First we’ll measure the space where your patio is planned and check for any hidden pipes or cables that may be under the surface using a cable avoidance tool. Then we’ll mark out the patio perimeter with pegs and string lines.

Preventing Rising Damp Under Your Patio

Wherever possible, we ensure the patio level once built sits at least 150mm below your house damp-proof course (DPC).

Ensuring Proper Patio Drainage

While patios should be even across the surface, we also ensure rain and moisture will drain off the patio, away from the house and other walls, by incorporating a slight downward slope to the patio of about 16 – 17mm per metre. That’s a gradient of about 1:60.

Patio Excavation and Sub-Base

To create a solid foundation for the patio, we dig out the area, going about 200 – 250mm deep to put in a sub-base layer before adding a mortar bed and the paving slabs. The sub base is a mix of crushed stone, rock, brick, and concrete (MOT Type 1 hardcore) about 50 – 100mm thick that’s compacted to eliminate any air pockets.

Patio Mortar Bed

To ensure the patio’s paving slabs will remain in place and level, we add a mortar bed layer, which is a mix of sand and cement about 40 – 50mm deep, then bind the back of the paving slabs with a bonding slurry mixture for a strong grip.

Laying the Patio Slabs

With a solid foundation in place, we lay the patio paving slabs from the highest corner and precisely lay the slabs along the string lines and following the drainage gradient, while also ensuring that the gaps between the patio slabs are aligned and equally spaced.

Pointing the Patio

With the patio’s paving slabs in place, we fill in and seal the gaps between them with a special mortar to prevent weed growth and water getting underneath.