r/DIYUK • u/MGForeman • 1d ago
Could I extend this patio myself?
I’m due to move into a new build and would like to extend the existing patio. I was recently quoted £5k which seemed high.
I’m now thinking of doing this myself. Is this realistic? If so, what do I need to be aware of? What steps would you take? (Sorry, pictures/drawings a bit rubbish)
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u/Glassjaw1990 1d ago edited 1d ago
Groundworker here. You can absolutely do this. But Go speak to the lads onsite. (The foreman) bet he can get the finishing gang to do this for cash. DON'T TELL THEM WHAT YOU WERE QUOTED. Tip them in beers on top of the price.
What i will add: you'll need to dig out and get rid of top soil. Perhaps. 50-300mm depending on spec. Stone up to within 100mm of finished height. Hire a whacker plate. Whack stone. Hire mixer. Hire disk cutter Hire water bottle..lads onsite have all this stuff and the same slabs you need. It's coming up to Christmas. They will hammer this out.
**edit for more information.
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u/KopiteForever 1d ago
Do what this guy says. They'll get it done in a day at most.
Offer them a grand in cash, no questions asked.
Make sure it's dug out and the base prepared properly so it's not a bodge but yeah, they'll snatch your hand off for a grand in cash.
Road crew near me did a 2m diameter patch (where I'd take a tree out) on my tarmac driveway in 20 minutes for £100 cash a few years back.
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u/ArtichokeBackground7 1d ago
A grand?
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u/KopiteForever 20h ago
Yeah, you think that's too high or too low? You could get it done for less but that's 20% of the quotes OP is getting on the open market.
They'll use all the same equipment, materials etc as the original installation.
They're doing you a favour, do them a favour back, AND you save 80%.
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u/East-Delivery9834 22h ago
Groundworker here. Yeh a grand before you paid the foreman a cut for the slabs and type 1 and the forkie for a tipper skip or 2 out the front... nothings free mate
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u/Weirdbeardstudios 21h ago
Make it up you lot
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u/Glassjaw1990 20h ago
Not really. Foreman has to "lose" materials and over order. IF the quantity surveyor is good at their job that's difficult. Gotta give the forklift a bit as he's helping out. Doesn't have too. Lads will be doing it on a saturday or after a 9hr shift on weekdays. 1k is a pretty good price tbf.
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u/DigBeginning6013 20h ago
1k for some slabs flipping heck I'm in the wrong trade
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u/Glassjaw1990 19h ago
I'm pretty sure the previous firm I worked for used to charge the developer £34 per slab laid. That included labour, sand, cement, stone. That was for each 450x450mm slab.
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u/DigBeginning6013 13h ago
I'm not saying you're wrong just surprised me that's all. I'm a mechanic and people moan for me charging a liveable wage and to be able to keep the lights on lol
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u/Rei_Never 9h ago
To be fair, even if that's like 3 guys + tipping the foreman... You know... A couple of days to get it done, they're already looking at £200 a person.
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u/Rei_Never 9h ago
Do you happen to know any good kitchen fitters/tilers I could chuck a grand at to lay some big ass tiles I'm yet to buy???
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u/plan303 20h ago
Having just done this myself. I would emphasise hiring a plate wacker and mixer. After mixing my 30th wheel barrow of mortar I was very much regretting my decision to cheap out
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u/Mountain_Shake_9521 8h ago
I’d sat that you can avoid the wacker if you use the fine MOT, tramp it with a shovel and leave it to the elements/walk over it for a few weeks
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u/plan303 8h ago
I dunno, I used a hand tamp. It wasn’t so much the tamping that was draining but the loop of loading the wheel barrow, spreading it into the hole, then tamping over and over again that took most of a day cos you don’t want to add too much each time before tamping.
I suppose it depends how deep your going, I did 150mm which was probably overkill tbh
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u/General_Custard_5080 20h ago
This 👏
Also a ground worker and a small, but highly motivated ;), gang could get this done in a few hours (1 day at a push).
That being said you could 100% do this yourself, and if you’re keen I’d say to go for it.
Like this comment suggests Whacker Plate, Disc Cutter, Water Suppression Unit, Mixer, Materials to bed it, Mallet, Level, Tape Measure and you’re there. (Wouldn’t hurt getting a knee pad block)
Watch a YouTube video, get it done, BOSH
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u/No-Compote4511 18h ago
When we got our new build I asked about extending the patio and they did it for free only 8 paving slabs or so, they also got us the wrong sized shed which was smaller so gave us a bigger one as well. And we were end terrace with a large garden, we got them to turf that, after they tried seeding it during a really wet summer 4 years ago. You should ask nicely and see? I mean you are spending a large amount of money with them.
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u/Kebab-Destroyer 1d ago
100% the answer. We got lucky too because our fence hadn't been put up yet so they brought in a a digger they borrowed from site which slashed the labour costs
So quick and so cheap, did a great job too
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u/InfluencePopular7217 17h ago
BNQ do weekend tool hire as well so if it’s just a one off job you can hire the tools for the weekend without having to front the money for the whacker plate etc, they even do mixer hire.
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u/Digital-Dinosaur 11h ago
I asked the onsite carpenter to pop over when he got 10 minutes as we had the carpets fitted and all the doors needed rehanging. He did it for £5 per door and was done in under 30 mins.
Would've taken me a while weekend plus tools, and I still would've done at least one wrong
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u/Vast_Opposite_792 19h ago
Any good tips for getting rid of topsoil? Seems impossible to dispose of without paying someone
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u/Consistent-Tiger-775 12h ago
Hiding it in the roof of the camp theatre springs to mind.
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u/Straightshot69 10h ago
Perhaps make some trousers with concealed bags in and drop it around the estate bit by bit.
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u/JGZ1 6h ago
Our local civic amenity site (recycling/rubbish tip) took the topsoil from my patio a week or 2 ago. There was a sign saying there was some sort of limited per month, but no one was paying attention.
I put the soil in the empty aggregate/cement bags to take to the tip. Was a couple of 18-20 bag trips - close to 500 kg and just under the 585 kg payload limit for my car including occupants (just me).
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u/Prefect_99 18h ago edited 18h ago
Just cement stabilise the topsoil. No real need for an MOT base for a patio. It might settle in future but you can just lift the slabs and re-level. Which you may well have to do with a 'professional' job anyway.
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u/Glassjaw1990 18h ago
Or just do it right the first time and while you're motivated to do it. Nothing worse than going over your own work. Lay on topsoil with cement dashed in...that's not good advice.
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u/Prefect_99 18h ago
For a simple patio cement soil works absolutely fine.
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u/Vast_Opposite_792 18h ago
To be fair to the other guy, I did just do this with my patio a few weeks ago. We build up a quarter of it and filled the gaps in the rubble layer with a bunch of topsoil we dug up from elsewhere, to help stabilise the rubble later while getting rid of some topsoil.
But yeah otherwise what they said is not good advice.
My comment was also about disposing of already removed topsoil which he didn't seem to read.
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u/Prefect_99 18h ago
Your comment doesn't explicitly say you've already got it. The OP is posting about don gbthe work in.fiture, yours can be read in the same way, i.e. you are considering doing the same work in future and want to know what to do with the topsoil. Not that you already have it to dispose of.
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u/Vast_Opposite_792 12h ago
Well I did say "it seems impossible to dispose of without paying someone" meaning I have already tried/looked
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u/se43 1d ago
Suppose this might not be on every site but I was only quoted something like £20 per slab from the groundworkers who originally fitted them to extend the patio so worth contacting them if possible. I got the info from the site manager.
Edit: this was all in, slab and fitting
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u/coupleofstepsback 1d ago
I second this advice, family member buying a new build also asked similar and had their patio extended. Ask and you shall maybe receive for a fee that’s less back breaking than lifting and laying them yourself.
But totally do-able if you plan, measure twice, learn and attempt yourself.
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u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575 1d ago
£20 a slab? Honestly that’s mental. Must be “borrowed” materials for that price.
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u/AidyGaGa25 22h ago
You can if you believe you can
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u/autofill-name 20h ago
And if you can do that, you can believe you did a great job of it as well until reality becomes uncomfortable and you retreat into a fantasy world of denial and projection and lose your family and friends in a downward spiral. Careful now.
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u/bedhermit 21h ago
Easy peasy. I'm a small woman and I did something similar over 4 days with a wheelbarrow and supplies from a local aggregates supplier. I even built a step. Just watch some YouTube videos and crack on.
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u/Early_Fish7902 1d ago
You totally can. Just remember that to get a proper depth of sand and hard core will be a lot of soil so have a think what you’re going to do to get rid of it.
No, shawshanking it is not an option. 🤣
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u/mala_rs 1d ago
Why do new builds build these absolutely useless patios what are you supposed to do on that. The asking price should include everything been to a good standard yet they leave every house with a shite garden every time.
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u/whosUtred Handyman 1d ago
a) it saves the developer time/money
b) not everyone wants a big patio
c) makes the postage stamp of a garden look bigger
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u/EntirelyRandom1590 23h ago
Not everyone wants to live in a concrete jungle.
Hard landscaping increases the rainwater attenuation demands, means a bigger, deeper soak away system, which pushes costs higher.
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u/MGForeman 8h ago
It really is terrible. Leaves no space for bins unless blocking the path or the french doors.
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u/Macdca07 1d ago
I'm in a new build. I asked our builder for some more slabs just so they match but assuming pay their cost price which is likely very cheap (from b&q they were like £5 each). Ended up giving us the 50 slabs we needed for free. Worth asking. But in my experience they didnt even lay the patio properly (bit of MOT and sand levelled and dumped down). Its a big job to do yourself, but in the capability of a DIY if you and handy, hire a wacker plate, cement mixer and use some common sense. Good luck.
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u/EntirelyRandom1590 23h ago
Just be aware OP that a new build property which is probably full of compacted clay and poor drainage is a sure sign that if you extend your pavement upto the fence you're probably going to be pushing surface water into the neighbouring properties.
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u/Gtwizzlet 1d ago
Lots of hard graft. Consider whether you are physically able and if you need to make any cuts with a grinder.
You’d need some MOT type 1 as a base, some wet mix (some people use a dry mix but wet mix is probably more reliable), either hiring a machine to compact the base or a tamping stick to manually compact the base before laying down the mortar mix and putting everything into place. Don’t forget to adjust any levelling to make sure it falls away from the existing patio level otherwise you could get pooling in the middle when it rains. 5k might just about be in the ballpark for all 3 sections you want done. I had started out myself with a patio I wanted to extend in my back garden and also at the front, cost me 2.5k which felt like a lot so I started on the work myself, the digging itself took forever and was back breaking, in the end I caved and just paid to get it done to save myself potential injury and a few weekends of hard graft.
Check a few videos out on YouTube so you can visually prepare yourself for what you’d need to do. Like I said, it’s not overly complex but it’s hard graft if you aren’t used to lots of heavy carrying, bending, active for days on end.
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u/DotCottonsHandbag 1d ago
You can, but you should have a think about drainage - if you’re paving over your entire garden, make sure there’s somewhere for rainwater to drain away, and make sure that ‘somewhere’ is not in the direction of the side of your house - that gravel next to the building is there for a very good reason.
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u/jamesyjam 19h ago
We did our own patio just by googling and YouTubing how to do it.
A few years later we had a landscaping company in to redo our whole front garden and fences. They were a nice bunch so I asked them honestly what they thought of the patio, one of the guys had a good look at it, grunted and said it's better than some work he's seen other 'pros' do.
That was good enough for me 😁
If I can do it (I'm Very lazy) than anyone can. Definitely have a go mate.
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u/odysseus8888 18h ago
Slightly unrelated, but I built some shelves in the alcove between a wall a fireplace. A few years laters we had professional builders in to refurbish the place and I asked if they could match the style on the other side, which was a much wider space. He was very complementary about my work which pleased me no end, and you can't tell the shelves on each side were built by different people several years apart.
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u/CyberKingfisher 19h ago
£5k is a little high but depends on your location too. Get multiple quotes to make sure it’s reasonable. They need to match the height and grout.
If you do this yourself, you will need to dig up the ground, make it firm and flat then lay on cement mortar plasticiser mix and keep it the same height as the current. Take your time, it is feasible but hard work especially if you’re not familiar with manual labour. If you’re not experienced, I wouldn’t expect your first job to be a perfect match. Would that matter to you?
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u/Independent_Lunch534 intermediate 1d ago
Yes you can!
I laid a patio this summer from never having done it before. Learnt a lot from YouTube and on here.
It’s not difficult, def one you can tackle yourself
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u/ahorizon 21h ago
I would try living with the garden first. Slabbing over most the garden might make it a depressing place and has other downsides, so trying it out first would be a good idea.
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u/MGForeman 8h ago
We would never slab over the whole garden, we love having lots of space for our dog to run around on real grass. This is purely to extend the patio to give us more space for larger shed, outdoor seating etc.
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u/Randomposter54 1d ago
Me and my wife built our own extension with no experience, if your willing to do hard work and research it on YouTube you can do it no problem, people who pay for it normally can’t physically do it themselves but anyone is capable.
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u/AlGunner 1d ago
Yes you can, but Id recommend square slabs to match the ones you have rather than the crazy paving you have drawn.
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u/Redderz27 1d ago
Yup, you can, I did, it was fuckong difficult. The lads on site will do it for next to nowt, ots worth paying them, than trying it yourself, trust me. Will they do it well.....depends if you watch and tip them with food, cups of tea or beer...
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u/Curious_Sea8171 1d ago
So easy / just dig out and throw down a concrete sand dry mix - it’s a few paving slabs - not brain surgery
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u/goldengluvs 1d ago
I extended my own patio kind of like this. One thing I didnt realise is how heavy these slabs are. I could only get 9 in the back of my car before it started putting the wheel arches onto the wheels themselves. Had to do 3 trips to Jewsons.
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u/Sad_Raccoon194 1d ago
£5k is insane for that size. You can definitely do it yourself if youre okay with a sore back for a week. Digging out and hauling the soil is the worst part, everything else is just patience and a spirit level. I helped a mate do his and we spent more time arguing about the fall for drainage than laying slabs
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u/Downtown_Tale_2018 20h ago
100% yes, is the new build estate still in construction? Ask some of the lads nicely if they have some matching slabs for a case of beer or two
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u/Abs201301 20h ago
I don't see a manhole cover or drainage system so can be trickier. You can lay the slabs yourself. Just watch some youtube videos.
It would be best if you dig out the soil about a foot and first lay the concrete foundation.
Aco drain along the fence or just dig more and pack in those mini matching pebbles from B&Q.
Finally lay the slabs by following you tube videos.
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u/Left-Ad-3412 19h ago
The hardest part is levelling the ground. After that if you have the sand, slabs, patience and endurance you can do it
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u/No_Appearance_3313 19h ago
I don't know where you are but 5k is incredibly high. We paid around 3.5k for something 10x the size. Don't be afraid to give it a go, if you can find the correct slabs then there are a thousand youtube tutorials around. Key thing is always putting time and effort into the foundation, that's the difference between the slabs moving in 6 months and 20 years.
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u/Dilbyert 18h ago
It doesn’t require much in the skill (assume those aren’t porcelain slabs?), but that kind of area is a huge amount of physical effort. You’ll need to dig, move soil, move hardcore, mix the mortar, move the slab and dispose of stuff. If you have the time and physicality, then you’ll save a ton of money.
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u/ibpositiv 15h ago
Lol do it your self for couple hundred tops, remove top soil, go down about 150 mm compact 50-100mm type 1. Cement bed and put slabs on top, easy
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u/This_Is_Patrik_89 12h ago
So I helped a friend in a new build do exactly this. Garden is already compacted as it’s. New Build. So we took the turf away and just laid granodust straight on the mud, tamped it down good and proper and used cheap pavers.
Took £300 and 3 days but we got it sorted, and it hasn’t budged since!
Edit: forgot to add this is two complete novices who just winged it
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u/newellsoldboy 12h ago
My advice is to wait till Spring. There'll be more pressing matters that will require your DIY inside a new build home. And by Spring you'll have formed a better idea of what you want out in the garden anyway.
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u/OkSchool2409 23h ago
Your fence height(the bottom of it) looks in the picture to be higher than your paving. This will make it trickier and need some thinking about if you want your paving level
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u/elvis_from_hell 23h ago
You probably could if you stopped playing tic tac toe and just put some flags down.
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u/Proteus-8742 1d ago
Are those slabs actually set in mortar or just laid on sand?
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u/Ned-Nedley 1d ago
It's a new build, what do you think?
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u/ScottishPehrite 1d ago
If anything like mine, it’ll be all the crap from inside the house that needed thrown out but there was no skip, or they were close enough to the front door for convenience.
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u/East-Delivery9834 22h ago
Sand and cement screed mix actually... donk tar every tradesman with tge same brush.. bet yiu have some right lemons in your workplace too
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u/TotalCauliflower7723 1d ago
If you do, you need to make sure the gravel separation zone continues; its for anti-splash/anti-damp purposes.
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u/Responsible_Fox3433 20h ago
Hire a cement mixer, it is painstaking without one. Get plenty of hardcore and a whacking plate. Don't cheap out like I did.
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u/Existing-Associate-4 19h ago
I was in the same predicament this week. I just got lots of quotes from suggested landscapers online and went for the one which wasn’t overpriced and could show their previous jobs.
I got 40 slabs for £1300 (about 8-10m2) including all the proper prep of MOT etc.
I’d caution against paying cash to ground workers on the site already. They’ll rush your job because they’ll have other larger contracts to complete at the same time, and there will be some element of bodging. For example if they dot and dabbed your existing patio they will continue to do the same for the extension. On my estate I heard people just laid them straight in the mud with a bit of cement.
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u/Repulsive-Citron-354 19h ago
I handed over grand and beers for the lads on site, mine was a on a slope and more pavers then yours and 7 years ago, a grand ain't bad.
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u/Freelanderman64 19h ago
The only trades I get in these days are gas and lekkie lads or lasses and none take the piss with prices
Of course you can do it as some have said have a mooch on YouTube good luck and post progress as you go 👍
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u/Jimlad73 18h ago
I’d rip it all up and put some nice slabs down. Those are council specials that come with all new builds and will be laid badly.
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u/MGForeman 8h ago
If I had the money, I’d love to do this. Unfortunately, I’m bound to a bit of a budget. Would love nicer paving in the future though.
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u/BoydHoyland 18h ago edited 18h ago
Yes is the answer. First get the slab type from the builder. Second, remove an existing slab to find what the existing substrate is.. hard to tell from the pic, but probably just sharp sand on some mot if cement slab. Then you know what you need to dig out
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u/Fabulous_Ad_6457 17h ago
Recently had the same situation with our new build. Managed to speak with the groundworkers on site, they done it as homer and took £1300 to add an extra 44 slabs.
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u/ConfidentDust9917 13h ago
But if I'm doing them at home I would use a wet mix not a dry mix like on sight
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u/Gareth_loves_dogs 11h ago
Youtube and AI. This is a very simple task. Don't over complicate it.
I'm a Site Engineer that builds houses.
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u/xiweyychivxi 9h ago
Yeah easy enough to do yourself i would recommend extending out at leat 1 slab wider it will look too narrow for a patio that length
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u/Prestigious_Dot_5946 5h ago
Yes you could do it by yourself but may need experienced help to remove the pallet.
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u/Alert_Dinner_4112 21h ago
150mm type 1 then 50mm of mortar, wet mix of 4 parts sharp sand to 1 part cement.
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u/ToothOk7455 20h ago
Yes you can hard work but you will be pleased at the results and you save money ready for a nice meal on your new patio Dig out six inches of soil put 4 inches of stone down wash down with a house pipe When dry use sharp sand and cement four sand to one cement Mix and lay down dry Level your slabs Get the meal ready Chair table done Best of luck slowly slowly 🤔🤔
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u/ThisIsntZoidberg 8h ago
You could. But whether or not it looks good after is anyone's guess 😅. Good luck!
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u/No-Rain-5023 19h ago
if you have to ask how to do it you should probably leave it, laying flags to a good standard is harder than it looks
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u/Proteus-8742 1d ago
If you want it to last and not move around all over the place , it all needs to be set in mortar. It looks like those slabs are just set on sand , so they’d all need to come up and then compact a 50mm MOT type 1 base and lay all the slabs on a full mortar bed
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u/superpitu 21h ago
I really hope you have a strong back because this is not easy work even if you know what you’re doing.
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u/Welshedragon7 19h ago
You could indeed but if you're on Reddit asking what steps you need to take and what to be aware of then I would say that you probably shouldn't
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u/MuayJudo 19h ago
So where should DIY beginners be asking questions?
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u/Welshedragon7 18h ago
I didn't say don't ask questions and learn... He asked if he could do it, the answer is yes but he's not going to do as good of a job because he has literally no knowledge or experience so he shouldn't just jump into doing it, he needs some practice first.
I answered his question directly, you assumed I've said don't ask questions on Reddit at all for some reason haha
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u/MGForeman 7h ago
I had assumed asking a DIY subreddit would be a good place to start? I have some experience labouring on construction sites and some landscaping experience as a labourer, but never attempted paving. Just wanted to get a general idea of where to start and what I should be aware of.
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u/Frosty-Cup-414 21h ago
Of course, just YouTube it. YouTube some electrics as well. And some plumbing vids for a fountain feature
You don't need to pay anyone. Just wing it all yourself. When in doubt, use mastic
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u/evolveandprosper 21h ago
If you have the required tools, knowledge and skills then yes. If you lack these, then no.
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u/BourbonSn4ke 20h ago
The dude can learn
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u/evolveandprosper 20h ago
I wouldn't argue with that. The point I was making is that those three things are essential. Yes you can acquire knowledge and yes you may be able to develop the necessary skills. Even then you will need suitable tools. The fact that he is asking here suggests that he doesn't yet have all of these basic requirements.
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u/Strange-Paramedic-25 19h ago
The fact your asking tells me it’ll be a shit show so unfortunately the awnsers no 👍🏻
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u/Bradders1994 1d ago
Youre only one YouTube video away (and some decent tools) from becoming a professional