A small project, finished properly.
Tired concrete slabs lifted; mixed-size Raj sandstone laid in a random course, framed in Ibstock red multi brick with a low retaining wall along the fence line. Studio-finish work at small-project scale.
The brief.
A 1960s suburban garden in Fareham with a tired bottom-of-garden zone — old concrete slabs lifting at the edges, weeds running through the joints, the whole rear of the plot reading as the part of the garden the household had given up on.
The brief was modest in scope but clear in standard: do it properly, with materials worth keeping, finished at studio quality. Not a budget-grade slab-on-mortar refresh.
What we built.
The old concrete was lifted and disposed of. The sub-base was rebuilt to spec — full Type 1 MOT compaction in layers, never tipped and rolled. Falls programmed away from the existing fence line. New Raj sandstone in mixed sizes, laid in a random course on a full mortar bed (no spot-bedding, no shortcuts).
The patio is framed in Ibstock red multi brick — a header course around the perimeter, then a low retaining wall running along the rear fence. The retaining wall does two jobs: it holds the planted bed back from the patio surface, and it gives the eye something to rest against rather than the bare fence panels behind. The bricks are pointed in a mushroom-tone joint compound matched to the sandstone.
A small project, but every decision treated the same way as a full garden build. The detail is what carries it.
