New patio : questions

[Steve Campbell]

We are looking to replace our patio this year. I want something that is as maintenance free as possible (unlike the current pain which has had to be re-grouted once in its lifetime & it’s now failed again…and pressure washed twice per year). Porcelain would seem to be the choice, but I’ve also read it can be incredibly slippy when frosty. The main stretch at the back we don’t really use in the winter but down the side of the house is back door, entrance to the garage and bin storage so is used in winter. Any experience on this in frost etc ? Anything that can be done to mitigate this ?

If anyone has an eye for colours, what would you recommend. Seems there are lots of greys but I’m rubbish with colours and the bricks might not work with grey ? Picture of new composite decking included which is to the right and seems to work well in a grey/brown kind of colour.

Thanks for any advice on stone/porcelain/design/colours appreciated.
Cheers

Edited by Steve Campbell on Friday 21st March 13:04

[Redmax]

Porcelain is fine outdoors, you just need to make sure it has an appropriate slip rating (R11 I think it needs to be).

[Antony Moxey]

Think that patio looks great as it is, I wouldn't be looking to change what appears not to need changing. Perhaps your grouting problem might be down to jet washing twice a year - is that much really necessary?

[Steve Campbell]

It’s not great. It was never laid properly in the first place >17 years ago, doesn’t drain properly, the surface has started to crack and the slabs aren’t even. It gets covered in green / black algae and/ or moss if I don't clean it as the surface is porous and it's a north facing garden. Not only that but the folks who originally laid it got mortar into the drain covers edge near the back door so one of the drain lids can’t be lifted since we’ve been in the house ! It’s definitely going !

Edited by Steve Campbell on Friday 21st March 13:29

[Antony Moxey]

Steve Campbell said:

It’s not great. It was never laid properly in the first place >17 years ago, doesn’t drain properly, the surface has started to crack and the slabs aren’t even. It gets covered in green / black algae and/ or moss if I don't clean it as the surface is porous and it's a north facing garden. Not only that but the folks who originally laid it got mortar into the drain covers edge near the back door so one of the drain lids can’t be lifted since we’ve been in the house ! It’s definitely going !

Edited by Steve Campbell on Friday 21st March 13:29

Fair enough! Your pics certainly don't show that. All I'll say is good luck and make sure you do a build thread when you decide to get it done.

[scot_aln]

You will still get the green moss/algae on porcelain but it is easier to jetwash clean as it doesn't stick as such. Depending on the jointing compound used it's not quite a maintenance free as we had hoped but cost doesn't seem to vary hugely across different patio forms so would prob choose same again.

On colours any decent provider will have some samples and Instagram and the like can be useful for trying to see what similar coloured brickwork looks like with different colours. Keep the preferred samples for at least a day as it changes colour across the day/night obviously.

[UTH]

Replacing mine as we speak, will post new photos on my thread a bit later as the main slabs will be done.

Gone with porcelain, but as it's SO new, I don't actually know what it's like with rain/frost etc yet!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Little Lofty]

As mentioned porcelain isn't always maintenance free, mine got jet washed once a year, lots of trees though. It is VERY slippy when green. I had very light grey, looked good, but I had to wear sunglasses a lot as it reflected the sunlight.

[The Gauge]

It's probably been laid on dot n dab blobs of mortar (Groundforce style). The cement pointing/grouting isn't then supported well underneath because of the gaps, and so it cracks. Water gets into the voids, freezes, expands and causes the blobs of mortar to crack, the slabs become loose and the grouting fils.

Personally I would only ever have a patio laid in a full wet bed of mortar (with suitable sub base). I waited years before getting mine done as I couldn't find anyone recommended and who would lay on a full bed, they all wanted to use the dot n dab method. As soon as I found someone who was both recommended and would do it properly, I got them booked.

[Steve Campbell]

UTH said:

Replacing mine as we speak, will post new photos on my thread a bit later as the main slabs will be done.

Gone with porcelain, but as it's SO new, I don't actually know what it's like with rain/frost etc yet!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

That looks excellent & great workmanship. Would you share who did the work & a rough idea of £ / Sq m ? (Direct message me if you don't want to do it publicly). I'm in South Bucks so not too far from Surrey depending on where you are.

[UTH]

Steve Campbell said:

UTH said:

Replacing mine as we speak, will post new photos on my thread a bit later as the main slabs will be done.

Gone with porcelain, but as it's SO new, I don't actually know what it's like with rain/frost etc yet!

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

That looks excellent & great workmanship. Would you share who did the work & a rough idea of £ / Sq m ? (Direct message me if you don't want to do it publicly). I'm in South Bucks so not too far from Surrey depending on where you are.

Emailed.

[Chrisgr31]

I am doing my patio, doing it myself. Well thats the current plan. However its not a quick process. I plan to do it in granite.

[Sheepshanks]

scot_aln said:

You will still get the green moss/algae on porcelain but it is easier to jetwash clean as it doesn't stick as such.

I just spray the green areas of ours (light grey prorcelain) with Wet & Forget (BAC 50 would be cheaper). Did it a week ago after winter and it looked fine within a couple of days - even under a trampoline in one sheltered corner that looked very messy underneath now looks clean enough that it doesn't need to be moved to clean the slabs.

[quinny100]

Don't get very light coloured porcelain. It looks great for about 10 minutes after you've cleaned it and dirty the rest of the time.

If I was having it done again I'd have porcelain laid on a solid concrete bed rather than MOT and mortar unless the ground is always bone dry. Even with slurry primer if any water gets underneath and freezes it will lift the tiles off the bed.