Colour advice... and a spiral! - Planning stages of a new patio in clays

[RichardS]

Hello All!

First of all, many thanks for creating this site, Tony, it's truly a gem of the web . You're sorely missed in uk.d-i-y and URG, but a referral here is generally the first reponse to any paving-related post!

Right, I'm finally getting around to putting the "must sort the patio out" plan into action and it's getting into advanced planning stage now. It'll be about 30m2 in total and is in the back garden of a typical 1900ish terrace that's built from yellow london stocks. We're going for an established, "cottage garden" feel to the place (having satisfied myself that I can handle the more demanding planting scheme & maintenance of such a theme). The current stuff is pretty bland grey wickes-esque paving slabs.

Any advice as to what colours might work best with this? I'm thinking that the obvious choice is for red clays to give a little contrast, but don't have enough experience of having seen other places to know whether this would likely be overpowering.

The second problem with my plan is that SWMBO has designed a lovely layout, but calls for a 2.5 to 3m diameter spiral feature in the centre! Any tips on how to start planning this? I know that circular patterns have central circle blocks that can be bought, but how to start off a spiral? Somehow I reckon I'm setting myself up for a lot of cutting here...

Any thoughts or advice would be gratefully received.

[Tony McC]

Hi Richard,

I keep threatening to dip back in to uk-diy and urg, as soon as I get the time, but I never seem to have the time these days - hardly got the time to answer all the emails I get via this site, let alone all the questions that I used to deal with on usenet.

Anyway, I think red clays might be a little too strong for yellowy London stocks. As a detail, they would be ok, but as a main colour, they really need to be used with a contrasting red or orangey brick. However,there's nowt to stop you looking at one of the 'softer' colour blends available in clay pavers. There are buffs, buffy-browns, brony-buffs and browns that work exceptionally well with London stocks, and for smaller back garden patios, the 'cobbles' are a wonderful alternative as the 75x75mm or 80x80mm plan size is ideal and the ragged, broken arisses are lip-smackingly organic.

Have a look at Baggeridge and Blockleys. They have fairly wide ranges that offer a generous selection of colours, sizes and textures. There should be summat there to take the fancy of SWMBO. Be aware, though, that clays are a bit more awkward to lay and have been known to test the patience of a saint. The colours and textures are 100% natural, and so they blend well with gardens, but they can fill a swear box faster than almost any other form of paving!

[RichardS]

Thanks Tony, you've confirmed my fear that reds would have been too strong.

I'll have a look at some of the more toned-down colours to see how they would fit. I think it's a bit like decorating - unless you've had experience and seen how a whole room looks in a particular colour it's difficult to extrapolate to the finished result from a small sample of colour.

When you say clays are more difficult to lay than other forms of block paving, are there specific problems associated with laying them? I know you recommend the use of a diamond cutter for them, from which I take it that they are more difficult to cut, but once you've got the things cut are there other problems that I am likely to encounter?

Not that it will deter me, of course! I have a masochistic streak when it comes to diy driven by a pathological desire to create the "perfect" patio/wardrobes/wooden floor... I'll not tell the foreman-ess about the swear box, though!

[Tony McC]

The biggest problem with clays is in getting them aligned accurately. The firing process causes them to distort and so what started out as regular and precise rectangles will warp in the kiln to something that can, at best, be described as "rectangularish".

This is why I like the smaller 'cobbles' so much for patios and garden projects. Instead of trying to overcome the organic nature of these pavers, make a feature of them, accentuate the fact that they are somewhat irregular, and they always look so much better.

And they're great if you have to create a spiral effect!