Thetownend.com

We were in need of making our back garden secure as due to the old shed collapsing last year, our garden was very accessible. Under the shed was a ‘foundation’ of random bricks, bits of concrete and mostly soil, so we decided to deal with this properly and get patio put down.

We got a quote and, not having a great deal of money, had to look for an alternative. My brother in law set up as a handyman recently and reckoned he could do what we needed for a fraction of the price, and I would help him to keep costs down/speed things up. The entire thing was a shit show of course, and we now have a 2/3rds completed patio which is wonky and entirely uneven. He’s meant to be coming back tomorrow to finish it but there is no way that is salvageable, so am going to suggest if he wants to start afresh on it to add it to his repertoire as a burgeoning businesses, we’ll provide materials, but I’m not paying him any more for it. If he declines then I will look to sort it myself.

Any thoughts, ideas, insults etc? Any patio/paving experts? Am I being unreasonable in my suggestion?

Pics? What did you put it down on? When I did mine I put down some type 2 sub base to make a firm footing, then made up a decent cement mix and bedded the slabs on a good 2 or 3 inches of this. I also use a rubber mallet to tap the slaps into place and get level etc.

we have/had a patch of concrete outside our kitchen door, decided to have it taken up and replaced with either slabs or block paving.  Had a couple of guys come and suss it out and quote. Qotes were both very close to each so I made my choice. He asked for a deposit which I duly passed over.  Four days later he came and started breaking the concrete up.  He finished at 3-45 pm abd I haven't seen him since.  He is refusing to come back, well he promises but never turns up!  Five weeks I have had a bloody great pile of concrete to clamber over whilst £840 out of pocket!  Got another company coming to sort it out next week.  Mr James Hookey is being reported to Trading Standards next week.  be careful out there, definitely some rogues out there.

If he's in his early 30s, there may have been early warning signs.

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Court+clamp+on+yob+of+15.-a089260992

A few of things to note

Take the slabs up and get some decent hardcore underneath and maybe sharp sand on top then if finances allow hire a compactor to really firm it up
Maybe do a dry run to make sure the slabs are going to line up
Lay each slab on a decent bed of mixed sand and cement
Firm into place using a rubber mallet
Try and use a spirt level to create a fall for the water to run off
Point in the joints with wet muck at the end and use a soft brush to finish off
Take a look on YouTube as there's many videos on there

I think your brother in law needs to learn fast if he wants to do this as a business!

Good luck and try and do it yourself as it will save you lots

what's he put under the patio... that's what you've got to worry about

First rule of thumb. In any DIY or professional project. PREPARATION.

If your going to build on it or walk on it you need proper foundations. For a patio I’d suggest a minimum of 6’ of compacted hardcore (scalpings) put down with one of those vibrating plates. A few inches of sharp sand firmly compacted and a sand and cement mix of 3/1 or 4/1 trowelled onto the corners and a dollop in the centre. Tapped down with a rubber ended mallet. A straight line and a meter long spirit level. If you are working against a house wall you need the slab surface to be ideally four inches bellow dampcourse and slightly sloping away from the wall. What strikes me immediately is there is no gap between the slabs for expansion and contraction. Any infill of mortar will just crumble and look shyte. You need spaces. I use pieces of cut 12mm dowl. A flexible coloured epoxy exterior ‘grout’ will be your best bet but not like you have in the picture.

YouTube will have something. It's my go-to place for DIY tips nowadays

Here's the path I laid for the side of my house, right tools, preparation and execution. Spirit level and string are vital too. The path I laid had to go up a gentle slope to meet up with a couple of slabs outside the garage side door.

Honestly that looks pretty salvagable. Difficuly when dealing with family and splitting work/costs. Work out what needs doing and if he's not willing to help then cut your losses and get someone else in. Or just live with it.

At some point it's gonna be used and lived in, take it on the chin as the DIY patio that you and Uncle reevesy built and have a fun story about his handyman career never worked out. Lots of people think they're pretty handy, which is why actual good handymen tend to have a reputation with references to go with it, maybe a bit of career advice for your brother in-law?

Level it out as best you can, either by getting someone else in or by doing it yourselves, knock it up to experience, but use the space instead of spending your time trying to chase a perfection you aren't gonna get.

Waffle.

Who's he put under the patio.......... Corrected for you.

My cousins sister-in-law was buried under a patio in Swindon for 20 years, put there by her husband who all the family knew did it but had no proof, my cousin had to testify in court.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/murder-trial-told-of-oildrums-grisly-secret-plumber-accused-of-killing-his-former-wife-in-1973-1425550.html

So once we 'flattened out' the soil (it was literally just walking over it with small steps), we put down ballast and flattened that out as well. Worth pointing out here that after all the ballast went down, he raked that back and put some of the soil back down as it wasn't high enough. Then as the adhesive there is a mixture - some concrete, some slablayer. I'll attach a pic in a moment as I took up some slabs earlier, either as the concrete didn't cover the surface of the slab or because slaylayer is shit? I dunno.

Essentially, there was no plan, he was hoofing it, and I was naive enough to trust him. Decided against letting him have another crack at it and instead will look to level it all out and then using paving bricks the same as what's already down. Looks easier at least.

Without getting into murky detail it still amazes me how someone can do that without getting or thinking they'll get caught? I'm not an overly guilt-laden person but I get anxious when I've stolen the last pork pie out the fridge.

I know what you mean! guilt ridden.

We have 1 murderers and 2 who were murdered in my immediate family e.g. Aunts/uncles/cousins.

Must be the Viking blood :D

Block paving arguably takes more prep and will be a bit more difficult to get to the same height as your existing paving. You have to allow for the compaction of the sand bed under the blocks after whacking them.

Slabs should be easier, you can just add or remove mortar to achieve the desired height.

pavingexpert.com is the go-to resource for anything paving related.

I laid a small patio a while back and it was a bit or trial and error but once you have one row all set, you're pretty much good to go. Make sure you have a spirit level and string and its plain sailing really.
That first photo, there must have been a point where he's looking at this and thinking, "hang on, this looks a bit pissed" but though, fuck it, just carry on and hope it's not noticeable.

Mmm, I wonder?

He acknowledged that it wasn't 'straight', but not that it was bloody uneven.

Thanks for the tips Samdy, will check out the link.

Just come across this thread by accident.  How did this end up?
I saw a patio on telly, just like the one in your photo laid by your brother in law.  I think it was in Prime Suspect and it had bodies buried underneath.
Hopefully you got this sorted! :pint: