Patios for homes in Belper
A patio is where the garden actually gets used, so it is worth getting the size and position right before a single slab goes down. We look at where the sun sits through the day, how the space runs off the back door, and whether you want one large area or a couple of smaller ones linked by paths and steps. Then we build it properly — excavated, a compacted base, laid on a full mortar bed rather than dabs, with the falls set so surface water runs away from the house rather than sitting in the middle of the slabs. Sandstone, porcelain, and matching steps, paths and edging so the whole thing reads as one piece of work.
Working in Belper
Belper sits in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, and that gives the town a distinctive character worth building sympathetically with. The mill workers' terraces along the older streets, the gritstone properties, and the steep streets climbing away from the river all set a material palette that a generic bright block paving finish tends to fight rather than complement — natural sandstone, muted greys and buffs, and darker aggregates usually sit far better against local stone. The valley setting also means gradient is a constant: rear gardens frequently rise or fall sharply away from the house, so a large proportion of Belper work involves retaining walls, terracing and steps to turn an unusable slope into level, usable space before any of the finished surfaces go on.
What's included
- Positioned around sun, access and how you use the space
- Laid on a full mortar bed, not spot dabs
- Falls set to run water away from the property
- Matching steps, paths and edging