paving

ashblag

hi all broad based question but...considering getting the back garden(or part of)paved...

basically garden is 35ft by 25 ft approx. it slopes half way down. We get all of the sun down the back of the garden.

I'm looking at options to do it up. there is only grass here at the moment.

Looking to pave the back of the garden with a small paved path down to it.
Any ideas on cost or any ideas on what else to do?

ps i'm on a minimal budget.

Thank you in advance.

AnthonyB

ashblag wrote: »

hi all broad based question but...considering getting the back garden(or part of)paved...

basically garden is 35ft by 25 ft approx. it slopes half way down. We get all of the sun down the back of the garden.

I'm looking at options to do it up. there is only grass here at the moment.

Looking to pave the back of the garden with a small paved path down to it.
Any ideas on cost or any ideas on what else to do?

ps i'm on a minimal budget.

Thank you in advance.

Some ideas for you -

Loose stone / gravel can be a very cheap alternative, and very easy to lay. Limestone fines / blinding is probably the cheapest, allow about €300 for 20 tonnes, which should cover the area you're talking about. Above that, you're looking at all sorts of decorative stone at increasing prices.

Concrete too is usually cheaper than paving, just as permanent, and can be good value depending on the area to cover...sounds like you have quite a bit. For guidance, a cement truck carries 8 cubic meters of concrete, so if you worked out you needed 10cm coverage, then one truck would cover 80 square meters, which is (very roughly) the area you're looking to cover. That's around €700 for a truckload. Watch for slopes and water run off.

For both options, you may need to do some site prep there too, digging out the grass and laying some hardcore underneath. That's going to be a hard days work if you do it yourself. Scrimp on that and the concrete will probably crack; if you lay gravel straight on earth you'll have weeds up through it in six months (although weedblock can slow that process - the rolls of black felt).

You could do part paved, part stone / concrete, which creates separate areas. Also, think about a raised bed - we did that in the last house, it was very nice. A big 8X10ft raised bed in the middle of the thing, and paved around it. The walls of the raised bed were about 18" high, and we put flat liscannor slabs on the top so that people could sit on the edge of the raised bed. One or two big trees in the middle, some shrubs all around, and weedblocker covered in bark chip in the middle - lovely.

Finally, think about leaving some grass. You could put stepping stones through the grass, and maybe cut a flower bed or two out of it. Then the second part could be more structured.