What we do
We lay paving as the foundation of everything else. Sandstone, porcelain and granite for terraces. Brick for edges and headers. Slate where the architecture asks for it. Mostly we work at terrace scale — gardens that need a place to sit, host, host again — and increasingly at full-garden scale where the whole rear plot becomes one resolved surface.
How we approach it
Every patio gets a written specification before a slab leaves the yard. Every slab is laid wet on a full mortar bed — no spot-bedding, no shortcuts that come back as movement in year three. Every joint is hand-cut at the perimeter, every cut is dry-run before it's pointed. Sub-base depth depends on substrate; we'd rather over-engineer than fix later.
No spot-bedding. No corners cut. No exceptions.
Materials
Mixed-size Indian sandstone in random course (Raj, Kandla grey, Mint, Modak), large-format porcelain in textured and smooth finishes, granite cobble setts for transitions, slate for shaded north-facing aspects. Brick edging in Ibstock multi or reclaimed, depending on what the surrounding architecture wants.
Pointing in mushroom-tone or charcoal jointing compound — never sand-and-cement scratched into the joints. Where the brief calls for it, we'll specify resin-bound for permeable surfaces.
In practice
See Bottom-of-garden patio, Fareham 2025 for sandstone in random course with brick edging and a planted retaining wall. Or Full hardscape, Warsash 2025 for a two-zone large-format porcelain treatment with a picture-framed Astro insert.
See recent paving work