Get into gardening

There’s nothing nicer than sitting in your back yard, soaking up the sun with a glass of something cool. And there’s no better way to create a lovely space to do this, than build a patio. It’s a pretty easy thing to make – as long as you plan, prepare and take your time.

Here’s our step by step guide to help you:

1: Start planning your patio

The first thing to think about is where you want your patio to go. Having figured this out you then need to draw a to scale plan on a piece of paper – marking down all the permanent features like your house, walls and manhole covers.

Next you need to choose the design you want. The easiest layout is a 'chessboard' because it doesn’t involve any paving slab cutting. Staggered paving (like a brickwork pattern) looks great, but does require a lot more work – and you’ll need to be able to cut the slabs.

Having thought about the above, you need to consider the technical stuff. The surface of your patio must be 150mm or more below the damp-proof course of your house – otherwise the rain will bounce off and hit the wall above. Another important feature is to make sure the patio has a gradual slope (25mm over every 1.5m) or drainage channel to stop a build of water near your abode.

2: Get measuring

So that you don’t end up with too many or few paving slabs, get your tape measure out and work out the area you need to cover. It’s best to calculate it in square metres – as all packs of slabs show coverage in this way.

If you’re using a single size slab, divide the area of your patio by the area covered by one pack to see how many packs you need to buy. For different sizes of paving it’s best to seek advice in store.

3: Mark it all out

Transfer your beautiful plan from paper to ground by marking out the area with wooden pegs and string.

Be sure to indicate the finished depth of your patio on the pegs – so you know how much bedding mortar to use.

4: Grab your spade

Remove any turf, plants or paving in the way and dig down about 150mm to allow for foundations.

To lay a solid base for your paving slabs, you need to use a layer of hardcore material (like rumble). Cover the whole patio area with this at a depth of about 50mm and rake until flat.

5: Make the bedding mortar

Prepare your bedding mortar by mixing it on a plastic sheet. For a good mix use a ratio of 3 shovels building sand, 1 shovel of soft sand, and 1 shovel of cement.

You’ll need to add a bit of water to create a wet mix. Once this is done spread it across your hardcore layer making sure it’s level.

6: Lay down the paving slabs

Before you lay down any slabs, check that the string guides you put down earlier are square to the house. If they’re not adjust as needed.

Then lay down the first slab against the house. Gently tap the slab to the right level, using a club hammer and block of wood to protect the slab. Once you’re happy, carry on laying the other slabs – it’s best to start in the corner as it’s easier to work from.

7: Fill the gaps between the slabs (pointing)

Once you’ve laid down all your slabs, leave the mortar to dry for at least 24 hours before filling or ‘pointing' the gaps between the slabs. This mortar stops your slabs moving and prevents weeds from growing in the gaps.

To make a mortar, use a semi-dry mixture of 4 parts building sand to 1 part cement. Make sure the mortar is only just wet, so it doesn’t shrink! Then press the mortar into the gaps with the edge of a trowel.

You’ll need to brush off any surplus mortar before it's completely dry and wash the slabs with a damp sponge and clean water to remove all traces of cement.

It’ll take 24 hours to dry, before you can enjoy that drink on it.

Top tip:

Always try to buy all your paving slabs in one go to avoid variations in colour and texture.