Patio help please

[Gshdet]

Hi all,

My wife would like me to lay a patio in our garden approximately 8m x 2.5m.

I have read through the great website and have some questions and i would really appreciate some help as i cannot decide what would be easiest and best to do.

We currently have a layer of stones (50mm) on soil and it is at the height of the DPC of the garages at the back of our house.

Ideally i wouldn't want to dig down (hard work!) so i have some questions:

Can i lay the patio at or above the DPC if i leave a 200mm space at the wall and fill with stones for drainage or will i need to dig down so the slab level is at least 75mm below the DPC and have the stones for drainage along the wall.

Can i lay the slabs on the soil with cement/concrete if it seems hard enough? or would i need to dig further down to create a sub-base? Would i need a layer of sand between the soil and cement/concrete if i did this?

What cement would be best to use?

I am thinking i would just dig down so the finished surface is 75mm below DPC and use the paving cement directly on the soil and have a 200mm gap between the wall and slabs. Does this sound ok...?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

[seanandruby]

Ideally you need to be below dpc. You can do a work around your call
Although you can lay a patio directly on sound sub soil, best practice is dig down and place a good sound sub base. Best not to skimp on materials. Good luck

[matt_north]

Hi

I'm afraid you need to put some sweat into this job, you need a good sub-base and while you're at it dig down so you're not messing with the DPC problem.