Patio Installation in Portsmouth

Designing a patio around how you use the garden

The first questions are practical, not aesthetic. Where does the sun fall in the late afternoon? Where will the table go, and is there room to pull chairs back without a leg dropping off the edge? Which door does everyone actually use? A terrace sized to the furniture you own is worth far more than one sized to a round number of square metres.

Portsmouth gardens are often small, walled and overlooked, which changes the design. A lighter stone bounces daylight into a narrow courtyard. Breaking the surface with a planting strip or a change of laying direction stops a small rectangle feeling like a yard. Raising a seating area by a single step gives it definition without eating the lawn.

Stone and paving options

Indian sandstone is the most popular natural stone: warm, riven, forgiving underfoot and available in mixed-size packs that break up the grid. Limestone is finer grained and more uniform, good for a calmer, more contemporary terrace. Granite is dense, hard and dark, with excellent slip resistance in a flamed finish.

Porcelain is a different proposition: vitrified, non-porous, colour-stable and easy to clean, but it needs a slurry primer and precise setting out because it cannot be cut and trimmed as casually as stone. We cover it in detail on the porcelain paving page.

Build-up, steps and retaining

Under a domestic patio we normally excavate to allow around 100–150mm of compacted sub-base and a 30–40mm mortar bed. Where the terrace sits on made ground or over a former border, the formation goes deeper until we reach something that will not settle.

Steps are built off a concrete foundation with a solid riser, not stacked on bedding sand. Low retaining walls in brick or block are built with a drainage void and weep holes behind them, so water pressure does not push them out over a couple of winters. Where the garden falls away, splitting the level into two terraces almost always looks better than a single sloping surface.

Jointing, sealing and upkeep

We joint with a brush-in compound matched to the joint width — a well-filled joint keeps water out of the bed and stops weeds getting a foothold. Sealing is optional on stone: it reduces staining from barbecues and planters and can deepen the colour, but it must be applied to a clean, dry, fully cured surface.

Beyond that, upkeep is a stiff brush, an occasional wash down and clearing leaf litter from shaded corners where algae forms. Avoid high-pressure washing at close range, which erodes joints and can pit softer stone. Have a look at completed terraces or ask for a quotation.