Patio Relaying & Repairs

Is your patio telling you something?

• Dips and uneven slabs you can catch a toe on.
• Loose slabs that rock or knock when walked on.
• Cracked slabs, often by a drain cover or where something heavy has stood.
• Puddles that hang about after rain, or water running back to the house.
• Joints washing out, with sand, moss or weeds in the gaps.

Sunken or uneven slabs

Patios sink when the ground or the base beneath them gives way. Near the sea, sandy soil can wash out from under slabs laid without a firm, compacted base. Inland and on the higher ground around Skelton, Brotton and Guisborough, heavier clay swells and shrinks with the weather and takes a poorly laid patio with it. Either way, the cure is to lift the affected area, build a base that suits the ground and lay it again.

Rocking and cracked slabs

A rocking slab nearly always means the mortar under it has broken up, or it was set on a few spots of mortar instead of a full bed. We lift it, dig out the old bedding and relay it on full mortar. Cracked slabs are replaced, and we'll match them where the originals are still available. If they're not, we'll go through the nearest options with you, including moving a sound slab from a less noticeable spot.

Lifting and re-bedding on a proper sub-base

Here's what a proper relay involves:

1. Lifting the slabs carefully, keeping the sound ones to go back down.
2. Clearing out old bedding and any soft or sandy ground.
3. Laying a crushed-stone sub-base, compacted in layers to suit the soil.
4. Re-bedding each slab on full mortar, primed where the stone needs it.
5. Jointing with a mortar or compound that will stand up to wind-driven rain and spray.

Drainage and falls

Water that sits on a patio, or runs towards the house, is a sign the fall is wrong. Plenty of older patios behind the semis in Redcar and Dormanstown were laid flat. When we relay, we set a fall of a little per metre so water runs off to the garden or a drain, and keep the surface at least two brick courses below the damp-proof course. If there's nowhere for the water to go, we can add a channel drain or soakaway.

Repointing as part of a repair

On the coast, joints take a battering. Once the slabs are sound and level, we rake out cracked or washed-out joints and repoint them so water can't get beneath. Repointing alone won't sort out slabs that are moving, so we treat it as part of the repair rather than the whole answer.

When relaying beats replacing

If the slabs are sound and you like them, relaying usually makes more sense than replacing. That's especially true of natural sandstone on the Victorian houses in Saltburn and old Redcar, which mellows well. It's also the sensible route when only part of the patio has moved. A new patio may be better value if most slabs are cracked or flaking, no match can be found, or you'd like a larger or lower-maintenance patio. Porcelain copes particularly well with sea air; see also Indian sandstone and patio slabs.

What affects the quote

• The size of the area to lift and relay.
• The cause of the problem: base, bedding, drainage, roots or washed-out sand.
• How many slabs need replacing, and whether they can be matched.
• Access to the garden for barrows and materials.
• Anything else done at the same time, such as a drain, step or edging.
• Waste to take away.

We'll look at it all on site and give you a written quote. See also what affects patio prices.

Questions people ask

Get a free quote

If your patio is sinking, rocking or cracking, send us a few details and your postcode. We'll come out, find what's behind it and give you a written quote.