Ace and Sons Roofing and Groundworks
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A finished patio in light and dark porcelain with a timber sleeper edge and a gravel margin, inside a new close board fence.

Patios in Orpington

Porcelain and natural stone, laid on a dug and compacted base with the edges held. The layers you never see are the ones that decide whether it is still flat in five years.

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What laying a patio involves

The soft ground comes out first, deeper than the finished patio will sit, and goes away. Crushed stone goes back in and is compacted in layers until it does not move under the plate. The slabs are bedded on that, each one tapped to a line so the finished surface falls gently away from the house. The edges are held, by a sleeper, a brick course or a kerb, so nothing can creep outwards. Then the joints are filled.

The photograph beside this is a patio halfway through: the first slabs down on their bed, the sleeper edge going in, the gravel margin waiting. That is the stage nobody shows you and the one that matters.

Porcelain

Most of what we lay now is porcelain. It does not stain, it does not grow moss the way natural stone does, and it comes in large formats that make a small garden look bigger. It is harder to cut and it has to be laid on a full bed rather than on dabs, or it sounds hollow and cracks.

Natural stone

Riven sandstone and limestone still suit a lot of the houses round here. They weather, which some people want. The sequence on the groundworks page is a riven sandstone terrace from the churned ground to the turf.

A patio halfway through: the first porcelain slabs laid, the timber sleeper edge being fitted, and the gravel margin not yet filled.
Halfway. Slabs on their bed, sleeper edge going in.

Anyone can lay the last inch

What is under a patio

Four layers, and you only ever see one of them. Tap a layer to read what it does.

A finished patio in grey riven porcelain running up to a timber sleeper retaining edge and new turf.

The only layer you will ever see, and the one that gets judged.

The layer the slab actually sits on. It sets the level of every slab in the patio.

Crushed stone, compacted. This is the layer that carries the load, and the one that decides whether a patio is still flat in the second winter.

The ground that was already there, once the soft stuff has been dug out and carted off.

If a quote comes in a lot cheaper than the rest, ask what depth they are digging to.

Recent patios

Where we have the same spot before we started, it is tipped into the corner.

A finished garden: riven porcelain paving, a timber sleeper retaining edge and freshly laid striped turf.
The same garden from the same spot before the work, with cracked concrete and a tired lawn.
Before.

A garden

Cracked concrete taken out, riven porcelain and a sleeper edge in, and the lawn turfed.

A large finished porcelain patio behind a house extension, with a timber fence around it.
A large porcelain patio behind an extension.
The back of a two storey brick house with a new dark porcelain patio, wet from rain, edged and stepped down to the lawn.
The same house from the same spot before the work, with an old light concrete slab patio and wheelbarrows on the grass.
Before.

Porcelain across the back

An old concrete slab patio out, dark porcelain in, laid larger than the one it replaced and stepped down to the lawn.

A dark porcelain patio outside white sliding doors on a red brick house, wet, running out to the lawn with a gravel margin at the edge.
The same doors before the work, with old concrete slabs, a manhole ring and loose gravel.
Before.

Out to the lawn

The old slabs and the loose gravel taken out, porcelain laid to the doors and run out to the lawn with a gravel margin at the edge.

A finished back garden: riven sandstone paving in mixed sizes, two timber sleeper planters and new striped turf, inside an orange close board fence.
The same garden before the work, from the same upstairs window: cracked concrete slabs, a worn lawn and a rotary line.
Before.

A whole back garden

Cracked concrete out, riven sandstone in mixed sizes down, two sleeper planters built and the lawn turfed.

A finished garden from the corner: grey paving, a timber sleeper raised edge holding a lawn, block paving and rattan furniture against a dark grey fence.
Paving, a sleeper edge holding the lawn, and block paving beyond it.
A circular sandstone feature with a red brick ring around it, set against a brick wall, with dark soil and grass beside it.
A sandstone circle inside a brick ring.
A stone house with new riven sandstone paving, a gravel area and stone steps, beside a dry stone wall.
Sandstone, gravel and steps at a stone house.

Patios in Orpington, Sevenoaks, Biggin Hill, Brasted, Westerham, Oxted and Knockholt, and the area around them. Where we work.

Get a price

Tell us what the job is and roughly where it is. We will come and look at it.

We use what you send here to quote your job and nothing else. How we handle it.

An old patio before it came out: small slabs, weeds in the joints, a garden table and chairs.

What happens next

  1. Send the form, or ring us.
  2. We come and look at the job.
  3. You get a free written quote.

0800 193 4212Freephone07925 068877Mobile aceandsonss@gmail.com

Orpington, Kent, and the area around it.

or mobile 07925 068877 Call 0800 193 4212 Get a price