The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:25 pm**

Evening chaps - stumbled across this forum looking for patio stones online, and am thoroughly confused, so hopefully one of you experienced chaps can advise!!
Right then - I am going to have a 10m x 4m patio done at my 1950's built home in Rickmansworth (Frost pocket!!), the garden faces East. I know a reputable builder who will be doing the job, and has based his price on suppliing a Bradstone Riven Flag at Â£25 M2, but am prepared to go up to Â£35 (possibly Â£40 if it makes a big difference?) depending on advise I recieve.
I looked around online and was initially getting excited about 'real sandstone @ Â£12 until I started reading about it on here!!
The wife went looking in our local EH Supplies and came away with brochures for Bradstone, Stowmarket,Brett,Forest,and Blockleys, and we are both none the wiser and thoroughly confused!!
Given our house is 1950's built, I dont want it to look 'plastic cottage', but am lookung for something along the lines of a Riven/Traverine style, but have no idea whether to go for real stone or concrete? We plan to stay here for a while, so want it to last a fair few years, and idealy be low maintenace.
Any ideas?
Many thanks for your time, and sorry for the waffle!!

Posted: **Wed Mar 21, 2007 10:49 pm**

go to the builders merchants that have displays "butterfields and gibbs and dandys in luton have them" i'm not sure about rickmansworth,but its a personal choice at the end of the day,i have done patios that i thought looked hideous but the client gets what the client pays for,
Â£30 a m2 should get you the high end concrete flags and the Â£12 sandstone would be Â£20 a m2 once you add VAT and delivery
hope this helps
LLL

Posted: **Thu Mar 22, 2007 9:34 am**

The 12 quid sandstone is unlikely to be the best grade material. I've not seen genuine A grade stuff for less than 16 quid.

Telling yu what would look best on your property is fraught with difficulty. What I think would look best may not be what LLL thinks would look best, nor what your missus migh think. Beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. You have to find a product the YOU like - after all, it will be you looking at it every day for the next god knows how long, not us!

Do as LLL says: traipse around a few of the display areas, take your time, go back and double check, have a look in sun, shade, wet and dry, so that you get a better idea of how it will look on your property. Ask the supplier for a sample that you can take home and lay against the masonry to see how (or if) it complements what you already have.

A few quid one way or t'other in the cost of the flags won't make a huge diff to the overall cost, as the prep and laying tasks are essentially the same whether you're using 10 quid per metre cheapo sandstone or 40 quid per metre top-of-the-range concrete reproductions.

The Brew Cabin

Have not got a clue!! - Concrete or stone?