Hard Landscaping · Farnborough, Hampshire & Surrey
Hard Landscaping in FarnboroughPatios, driveways, walls and stepsbuilt on foundations that last
Outdoor surfaces that stay flat, drain where they should and still look right in ten years, because the sub-base, falls and edge restraints are built correctly under the part you can see.
Fixed price agreed before work starts · itemised quote within 21 days · insurance-backed guarantee
01 Experienced trade team of around five
02 Fixed price agreed before work starts
03 Itemised quote within 21 days
04 Public liability & contractors insurance
05 Insurance-backed guarantee
Selected hard landscaping projects
What it is
Hard Landscaping: what the work involves
Hard landscaping is the structural half of a garden: the patio you put furniture on, the driveway that carries a car every day, the retaining wall holding a level change and the steps that connect them. Almost every failure in this work, sinking, ponding, weeds through joints, a bulging wall, comes from what was done below the surface.
We build the full make-up: excavation to the required depth, geotextile separation where the ground is soft, compacted granular sub-base in layers, correct falls away from the house, laying course, edge restraints and drainage. The finish is then chosen for the use rather than the brochure.
Ballpark figures are free. A full itemised quote is £500, deducted from the final price if the job goes ahead, and it sets out excavation depth, sub-base build-up, drainage and materials so you can compare like with like.
Who it is for
- Homeowners with a sunken, cracked or ponding patio that needs rebuilding rather than jet washing
- Households wanting off-street parking that will not rut under a car
- Gardens with a level change that needs a proper retaining structure
- Anyone finishing an extension or garden room and needing the outside made good
When it is needed
- Water sits on the patio for days, or runs towards the house instead of away
- Slabs rock underfoot, joints have failed and weeds are through the surface
- A driveway is rutted, sunken at the crossing point or breaking up at the edges
- An old sleeper or dry-stacked wall is leaning and holding back soil it cannot carry
What goes wrong
Why specification and detailing matter
These are the failures that come back to us as remedial work. Every one of them is cheaper to avoid at quote stage than to correct after the finishes are on.
Surfaces laid on sand or soil
Paving on a thin bed with no compacted sub-base will settle within a season or two, unevenly, and worst where it is used most. There is no repair short of lifting and rebuilding it.
Falls towards the building
A surface that drains back at the house pushes water against brickwork and over the damp-proof course. That is a damp problem inside the house, not just a puddle outside.
Retaining walls without design
Retained ground is a load. Walls built without adequate footings, drainage behind them and reinforcement or thickness to suit the height lean, crack and eventually fail; they fail towards whatever is below them.
Blocked or ignored drainage
New paving laid over a gully, or a driveway with nowhere for surface water to go, moves the problem to the lowest point on the property. Linear drainage and a legitimate outfall are part of the job, not an optional extra.
How it works
Our process, from first call to handover
Site visit and levels
We look at existing levels, where water currently goes, ground conditions, access for machinery and where spoil can be removed.
Itemised fixed quote
A fixed-price quote within 21 days stating excavation depth, sub-base build-up, drainage, edge details and materials.
Excavation and sub-base
Dig out to depth, geotextile where needed, then compacted granular sub-base in layers with falls set before anything is laid.
Laying, drainage and edging
Drainage runs and channels installed, surface laid on the correct bed, edge restraints and haunching built in, joints filled or pointed.
Check, clean and guarantee
Falls checked with water, surface cleaned down, spoil removed, and the work covered by an insurance-backed guarantee.
What you get
The benefits of hard landscaping
Surfaces that stay level
Compacted sub-base and edge restraints designed for the load, whether that is garden furniture or a car.
Water taken away from the house
Falls, channels and outfalls set deliberately rather than left to chance.
Less maintenance
Correct jointing and pointing keeps weeds and washout out of the surface.
Structures that hold their line
Retaining walls with proper footings, drainage behind and the right build for the height.
Usable space gained
Level terraces, parking and connecting steps turn awkward ground into space you actually use.
Fixed price and guarantee
Price agreed before we start, and an insurance-backed guarantee on completion.
In detail
Hard Landscaping: methods, materials and variations
Surfaces and structures we build
Patios and terraces are usually porcelain, natural stone or riven concrete paving, each with its own laying and jointing requirements; porcelain in particular needs a primed slurry bond and tight tolerances to look right.
Driveways are block paving, resin-bound over a permeable base, or tarmac and concrete depending on use and appearance. Retaining walls range from mortared masonry and blockwork faced in brick through to gabion and sleeper structures where the situation suits them.
- Porcelain, sandstone, limestone and concrete paving
- Block-paved, resin-bound and concrete driveways
- Masonry and reinforced retaining walls
- Steps, raised beds and seating structures
- Drop kerbs, thresholds and boundary walls
Build-ups, drainage and materials
A garden patio typically needs excavation, geotextile on soft ground, compacted MOT Type 1 sub-base and a mortar or slurry-bonded laying course. A driveway takes a deeper sub-base and heavier edge restraint because it carries a point load that moves.
Because surface water rules matter, permeable build-ups and soakaways are often the correct answer for a front driveway rather than draining to the road. Linear channel drains, gullies and land drains are specified to suit ground permeability and the available outfall.
- MOT Type 1 and Type 3 permeable sub-bases, compacted in layers
- Geotextile separation and reinforcement membranes
- Slurry-primed bedding for porcelain, full mortar beds for stone
- ACO channel drains, gullies, soakaways and land drainage
- Concrete footings, reinforcement and drainage behind retaining walls
Residential and commercial work
Domestic work is the bulk of what we build: patios, parking and garden structures on occupied houses, where protecting existing planting, access routes and neighbours' frontages matters as much as the finish.
For small commercial sites the differences are load, slip resistance and level access: a delivery route or car park needs a heavier build-up and a surface specified for traffic, and thresholds have to work for wheelchairs and trolleys.
Patios, driveways and garden structures built across Farnborough, Camberley, Farnham, Fleet, Aldershot, Guildford and Godalming. See our service areas for the full list, or start from the homepage for an overview of how we work.
Questions
Hard Landscaping questions we are asked most
How much does a new patio or driveway cost?+
It comes down to area, how much you dig out, spoil disposal, drainage and the surface material. Ballpark figures are free after a site visit, and a full itemised quote is £500, deducted from the final price if the job goes ahead.
How long does the work take?+
Most patios and driveways are a matter of weeks, depending on size, spoil removal and drainage. The programme comes with the quote.
Do I need permission for a driveway?+
A new or widened crossing over a pavement needs highway authority approval, and surface water handling is a regulated part of front-garden paving. Permeable build-ups or a soakaway are usually the answer, and we set that out in the quote.
Can you lay over the existing patio?+
We would rather not. Laying over a failing surface inherits its falls and its movement. Where the existing base is genuinely sound we will say so, but the honest answer is usually to dig out and rebuild.
Will weeds come back through the joints?+
Correct jointing, a suitable pointing mortar or jointing compound over a properly built base, is what keeps weeds and washout out. Cheap dry-brushed sand in a wide joint is what fails.
How long will it last?+
A correctly built sub-base and edge restraint is what determines the life of the surface, not the slab. The work carries an insurance-backed guarantee.
Do you handle the spoil and old materials?+
Yes, removal and disposal is priced in the quote rather than added afterwards.
Can you build steps and retaining walls at the same time?+
Yes, and it is usually cheaper to do the whole level change in one visit because the excavation, machinery and drainage are shared.
Do you cover areas outside Farnborough?+
Yes, Camberley, Farnham, Guildford, Godalming, Crowthorne, Sandhurst, Aldershot, Fleet, Frimley, Bagshot and Yateley.
Request an estimate
Ballpark figures are free. A full itemised quote is £500, deducted from the final price if the job goes ahead, and provided within 21 days.
Related work
Services that pair with hard landscaping
Groundworks
The part of the build nobody sees and everything else depends on, excavated to the right depth for the ground you actually have, inspected before it is covered, and priced before we dig.
Drains
Drainage that is set to the right fall, tested before it is covered and recorded on the completion paperwork, whether it is a diversion under a new extension or a failed run being replaced.
Garden Rooms
A properly built room at the end of the garden, insulated, powered, heated and usable in February, for a fraction of the disruption of extending the house.
Next step
Get a fixed price for your hard landscaping project
Ballpark figures are free after a site visit. A full itemised quote is £500 and is deducted from the final price if the job goes ahead, provided within 21 days, so you can decide with the numbers in front of you.
Experienced team of around five · public liability & contractors insurance · insurance-backed guarantee · Mon-Sat · 08:00-18:00
Covering Farnborough, Camberley, Farnham, Guildford, Godalming, Crowthorne and the surrounding Hampshire and Surrey area.