Patios In Hornchurch & Upminster
Does your patio hold a puddle by the back door every time it rains?
Porcelain, Indian sandstone and limestone patios, steps and garden paving for homes across Hornchurch, Upminster, Emerson Park and Elm Park
The gardens here are good. Upminster's garden suburb gave the houses north of the station gardens of up to half an acre, Emerson Park's plots were measured in acres, and even the 1930s semis in Hornchurch and Elm Park have a decent rectangle out the back. What lets most of them down is a patio laid in the eighties on dabs of mortar with no fall, which now rocks, holds water against the house and goes green every autumn. A patio built properly is a different thing: a full mortar bed on a compacted base, slabs cut tight, falls set away from the house to a drain, and a surface that still looks right after twenty winters on London clay.
Free Patios & Paving Quote
We reply the same working day, usually within the hour.
What a properly built patio does for a Havering garden
01
Water runs away from the house, not into it
We set a fall of at least 1 in 80 away from the wall and put a linear channel or gully at the low edge. On a clay garden that is the difference between a dry kitchen floor and a damp one.
02
A full bed, so nothing rocks
Every slab goes down on a full mortar bed over a compacted base, not five dabs. A dabbed slab rocks within a year on clay as the ground moves under it, and the hollows fill with water that freezes.
03
Porcelain that does not stain or green
Vitrified porcelain absorbs almost no water, so it does not go green, does not stain under a barbecue and does not need sealing. It is what most of our Upminster customers choose now.
04
Natural stone where it suits
Indian sandstone in a riven finish looks right behind the older Emerson Park houses, and a sawn limestone suits the rendered thirties semis. We lay both on the same full bed.
05
Steps, walls and levels sorted in one job
Gardens north of the railway often fall away from the house. Retaining walls, steps and a level terrace are designed in from the start and built by the same crew.
06
Built with the extension, not after it
A lot of our patios go in alongside a rear extension or a garden room. We work with the builder on levels, thresholds and drainage so the doors open onto a terrace that is flush, not a step down onto mud.
Local
Upminster Based
Hornchurch, Upminster and across Havering
6
Surface Types
Resin to gravel, one crew for all of it
Free
Site Visits & Quotes
Written, itemised and fixed
Written
Guarantee
Handed over on paper at the final walk-round
How a patio goes in behind a Hornchurch house
Falls, base and bed. Get those three right and the slab on top is the easy part.
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Site visit and levels
We measure the garden, take levels from the damp course and the lawn, check where the water goes now and dig a trial hole. On the clay gardens north of the railway that hole tells us how deep the base needs to be.
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Design and quote
A drawn layout with the slab size, pattern, steps, walls, drainage and falls on it, and an itemised fixed price. Porcelain and sandstone are quoted by name and thickness.
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Dig out
The old patio, the dabs of mortar and the topsoil come out to the right depth. Old slabs rarely sit on anything worth keeping.
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Base
Geotextile on soft clay, then 100 to 150mm of MOT Type 1 compacted with a plate in two layers and shaped to the falls.
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Edges and drainage
Edge restraints, retaining walls and step footings go in now, along with the linear channel or gully at the low edge and its connection to a soakaway or the surface water drain.
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Full-bed laying
Slabs primed on the back and laid on a full mortar bed, levelled to the falls, cut with a wet saw. Porcelain gets a slurry primer so it bonds; sandstone gets a wet bed so it does not stain.
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Pointing and handover
Joints pointed with a two-part resin compound that does not wash out or grow moss, the patio cleaned down, and the walk-round with the written guarantee.
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Not sure which surface suits the house? The cost guide compares all six side by side, and the site visit is free either way.
What our guarantee actually covers on a Hornchurch and Upminster driveway
Most guarantees in this trade cover the surface, because the surface is the easy bit. Ours is written around the structure underneath, which is where a driveway on Havering's London clay either holds or does not. We put the excavation depth, the compacted MOT Type 1 thickness, the concrete haunch behind every edge and the drainage route on the quote, and we guarantee that build. If the surface sinks, spreads or ponds because any of that was not done right, we come back and fix it at our cost.
- Sub-base depth and compaction written on the quote, not left to the day
- Every edge course set on concrete and haunched, so nothing creeps
- Settlement, rutting or lifting caused by our groundwork put right free
- Manufacturer cover on resin, block and porcelain on top of ours
In
Writing, before we start
The guarantee terms go on the quote, not on a leaflet after the job
0
Overlays on a bad base
We will not lay a new surface over a base that has already failed, however cheap it would make the quote
What to look for in a patio installer around Upminster
Look at how they bed the slabs. The most common patio failure we see in Havering gardens is the five-dab method, where each slab sits on five blobs of mortar with air underneath. On clay ground, which moves with the seasons, those slabs rock within a year, and the voids fill with water that freezes and lifts them further. Every slab we lay goes on a full bed, and if a quote cannot tell you how the slabs are bedded, assume dabs.
Look at the falls. A patio that is dead level holds water, and one that falls towards the house sends it at the damp course. We set a minimum fall of 1 in 80 away from the wall and put a channel or gully at the low edge, connected to somewhere. In the gardens around Emerson Park and north Upminster, where the lawn often rises away from the house, that channel is not optional.
Look at the pointing. Sand and cement pointing cracks in the first winter and grows moss in the second. A two-part resin jointing compound costs more per bag and takes more care to apply, but it stays put, sheds water and does not green. On porcelain it is the only sensible choice, because mortar stains the face of the slab and never fully comes off.
Porcelain, sandstone and limestone compared
Three materials, three different jobs. Porcelain for low maintenance, sandstone for character, limestone for a clean modern look.
| Porcelain | Indian Sandstone | Limestone | Concrete Slabs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water absorption | Almost none | Moderate, needs sealing | Low to moderate | High |
| Goes green | No | Yes if unsealed | Slowly | Yes |
| Stains | No | Can, seal it | Can, seal it | Yes |
| Look | Uniform, large format, modern | Riven, varied, traditional | Smooth, pale, clean | Plain |
| Guide price per m² laid | £110 to £150 | £90 to £120 | £100 to £135 | £75 to £95 |
| Suits | Extensions, bi-fold doors, newer houses | Emerson Park villas, cottage gardens | Rendered thirties semis | Budget and utility areas |
Slab sizes, patterns and the bits around the edge
Large 600 by 900 or 800 by 800 porcelain in a stack bond suits a terrace off a set of bi-fold doors. A four-size random pattern in riven sandstone suits a cottage garden and hides the odd cut. Plank-format porcelain in a wood effect runs the eye down a long narrow garden. Around the edge, a block or stone border, a raised bed, a step down to the lawn or a low wall to sit on all get designed before anything is cut.
- Porcelain 20mm, Indian sandstone 22mm calibrated, sawn limestone
- Stack, staggered and random patterns set out before cutting
- Steps, retaining walls and raised beds built in the same job
- Resin-pointed joints as standard on every patio
"Roughly one in three patios we replace in Hornchurch and Upminster was laid with no fall at all, and the rest fell the wrong way."
Based on enquiries and jobs handled by Hornchurch & Upminster Driveways.
What a patio costs in Hornchurch and Upminster
A patio laid on a full bed over a compacted base starts at around £90 per square metre in Indian sandstone and runs to £150 in a premium large-format porcelain, including excavation, base, drainage, laying and resin pointing. A typical 25 square metre terrace behind a semi is £2,300 to £3,800. The bigger gardens north of the railway and in Emerson Park are often 40 to 60 square metres with steps and walls. What moves the price:
- +Porcelain versus sandstone, and the slab size within each
- +Steps, retaining walls and level changes, which are the biggest addition
- +Access: a garden with no side gate means everything goes through the house
- +A soakaway where there is no surface water drain to connect to
- +Rear extensions and garden rooms going in at the same time, which we coordinate
Guide price from
£90/m²
Including excavation, sub-base, edging and the finished surface. Fixed in writing after a free site visit.
Get A Fixed QuotePatios & Paving questions
Do I need planning permission for a patio in Havering?
Almost never. The permeable surface rule from 2008 applies to front gardens, not back gardens, so a rear patio needs no application to Havering Council however it drains. The exceptions are listed houses and a patio that raises the ground level significantly next to a boundary. Where we do have to be careful is the drainage: a patio that sends water onto a neighbour's land or into the foul sewer is a different problem, and we design every one to drain within your garden.
Porcelain or sandstone?
Porcelain if you want a terrace that never needs sealing, never greens and shrugs off red wine and barbecue fat. Sandstone if you want the varied, riven look and do not mind sealing it every couple of years. Behind a modern extension with bi-fold doors, porcelain. Behind an Edwardian house in Emerson Park, sandstone. Behind a 1930s semi, either.
My garden slopes down from the house. Can you still level it?
Yes, and gardens that fall away from the house are easier than the reverse. We build a retaining wall at the low edge, fill and compact behind it, and set the patio with a fall towards a channel at the wall. If the garden rises away from the house, which is common north of Upminster station, the channel at the house end is what stops the lawn draining onto the patio.
How long does a patio take?
A 25 square metre terrace with no walls or steps is three to four working days. Add a day or two for steps, a retaining wall or a long drainage run. You can walk on it the day after pointing. We ask you to keep furniture off it for two or three days while the mortar bed cures fully.
Can you build the patio at the same time as our extension?
Yes, and it is usually cheaper because the digger and the skips are already there. We work with your builder on the finished floor level so the patio meets the threshold properly, and on the drainage so the new roof's rainwater and the patio's run-off go to the same place.
Do you lay patios outside Hornchurch and Upminster?
Yes. Everywhere we lay drives: Romford, Gidea Park, Harold Wood, Harold Hill, Collier Row and Rainham within Havering, and Dagenham, Barking, Chadwell Heath, Ilford, Gants Hill, Brentwood and South Ockendon beyond it.
What customers around Hornchurch and Upminster say
We would rather show you a driveway than a star rating.
Customer reviews are being collected and will appear here as they come in. In the meantime, when we come out to quote in Hornchurch and Upminster, ask to see photos of recent jobs on houses like yours - and ask the other firms quoting the same question. A finished drive two streets away tells you more than a testimonial ever will.
Not sure patios & paving is the one?
Patios & Paving across Havering and beyond
A patio that drains, sits flat and stays clean
Free site visit for any garden in Hornchurch, Upminster or the surrounding towns. We will take levels, check the drainage and give you a drawn layout with a fixed price.