Porcelain Paving St Albans

Price · Sandstone · Paving · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Sandstone and porcelain pathing is in the same price bracket to purchase.  To be fair the porcelain is slightly more expensive to lay in terms of labour.  Due to the difficulty cutting the product and applying a bridge bond, such as SBR.  But the cost difference is marginal on most projects.  Sandstone can benefit from sealing.  To reduce the risk of staining.  Porcelain paving is naturally stain resistant.

Slate · Paving · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Slate is generally the most expensive stone to purchase.  Make sure you purchase exterior grade stones.  They tend to be thicker and frost resistant.  The cheaper thinner one won’t last the cold winters.   Slate natural stone paving is great for smaller areas. Key pathways in your garden design.  Or the front of the house.  Slate is rich and luxurious in colour and texture.  Compliment your slate paving with a pair of large terracotta pots. Planted with bay standards.  Slate doesn’t really need sealing as it’s naturally stain-resistant.

Caution · Cleaning Your Patio · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Garden Design Always be careful before cleaning your natural stone paving.  We don’t use brick acid!  Always get specialist advice for each type of stone.   You always get what you pay for.  Cheaper brands require more work, more applications.  And don’t give a great result.  Floor Seal, have some products for cleaning and sealing your patio.  And great advice and customer service.

Jetwashes · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Be careful jet washing your new patio.  Don’t get too close.  The jet can easily mark the stone!

Granite · Paving · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Granite is midway priced between slate and sandstone.  It’s a very contemporary stone, great for a modern garden design.  It’s extremely hard-wearing, with a slight sparkle to its texture.   Great laid in single-sized 600 x 600 for pathways and walk works.  Linking key areas in your garden design.

Limestone · Paving · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Limestone is one of the cheapest natural stone paving products.  Comparable to some of the sandstone paving, St Albans.  It’s similar to slate.  Although it does have a tendency to stain and loses its colour over time.  Sealing the paving surface will help.

Lay Large Stones · Paving · Porcelain · Harpenden · St Albans

Lay large stones in a single size for a contemporary feel.  Lay a raj green in a traditional 3 stone pattern for a more traditional feel.  Sandstone paving and porcelain look great in both contemporary and traditional garden designs at St Alban’s.  Porcelain is extremely hardwearing.  Its very uniform in appearance and texture. Grey porcelain paving looks great, St Albans.

Easy to Clean · Porcelain Paving · St Albans · Harpenden

Porcelain paving is great for modern gardens, St Albans. It’s also easy to clean compared to other natural stones. It’s pretty impervious to most liquids.   Oil is just repelled by its non-porous surface.  Wipe with a cloth.  And clean with water!

Workmanship ⋅ porcelain ⋅ paving ⋅  harpenden · St Albans

Fertile Ground Garden Design and landscaping.  We have been installing natural stone paving and porcelain patios throughout St Albans, Harpenden and Herefordshire for over 15 years. We pride our selves in the quality of our craftsmanship and attention to detail. We always use high-quality landscaping materials.  Choosing Fertile Ground Design. To install your porcelain patio, St Albans. Will always ensure a high-quality finish.

Our current suppliers include London Stone, St Albans Stone  as well  EasyPoint jointing compound.

MOT · Full Mortar Bed · Easy Point Point ⋅  harpenden · St Albans

All our paving is laid on a layer of MOT crushed concrete.  Creating a stable base for our porcelain and natural paving in St Albans.  Each paving slab is laid on a full bed of

Current finishes ⋅ traditional ⋅ contemporary

Porcelain paving ⋅  st ⋅ harpenden ⋅ islington ⋅ barnet ⋅ hampstead

Select ⋅ your paving ⋅ st albans….

Select ⋅ your paving ⋅ st albans

Indian sandstone paving ⋅ Available in various colours.  Sandstone is extremely hard wearing and generally low maintenance.  Autumn brown looks great in a traditional garden design.  Kandula grey looks great in contemporary garden design.

Most stones are very riven in appearance giving the stone a good grip underfoot and a natural look.  Hone or shot blasted sandstone paving is available.  This has a subtler texture, especially with the tight hand-cut edges.  Giving the stone an overall contemporary feel.

Granite paving ⋅ is a mid-priced natural stone product.  Granite paving a great for a contemporary garden design project.  It’s extremely tough and won’t scratch easily.  Granite setts also look great as edging.  Either on a granite patio.  Or a sandstone.  Edging sets also look great as a border.  Granite paving is a must for modern garden design.

Slate natural stone paving ⋅rich in colour and luxury.  It’s a top-end priced natural stone.  Great for key areas of your garden design.  Front of house or pathways.  Add some large pots to your porch area.  Plant with Box Standards, Tulips and ivy.

Natural stone edging always looks great, it’s a great way of adding detail to your paving area. Why not add a simple classic edging border to your sandstone patio.  Granite edging looks great for a contemporary garden design.  Combine with slate or granite natural paving.

Straight Formal Lines · Contemporary Curves ⋅ porcelain ⋅ paving ⋅  harpenden · St Albans

Natural stone edging is quick and easy to lay.  Consequently, the stone edging is extremely versatile and can be laid in straight formal lines or contemporary curves. While edging is a great way to define a lawn, it can also be used to break up large paving areas or create contemporary paths.  or create beds and borders for your planting

Create · Border · Paths · Mowing Strips

Natural stone setts are a great way of creating edging and borders. They can be used for transitions on paving to add detail.  Or help with changes in levels.  And for adding a useful mowing strip.  Great for those hard to get areas. Around your fence!

Natural stone edging ⋅ granite setts ⋅ sandstone setts ⋅ limestone setts

LAYING  EDGING ∙ PORCELAIN PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS ∙ HARPENDEN

Natural stone edgings look great edging planting borders in your garden design.  You can use edging setts.  Available in 100 x 100 and 100 x 100.  The 100 x 100 sets are great for curves.  The 200 x 100 are quicker to lay and great for formal straight lines.  Both work well in both contemporary and traditional garden design.

Cutting Your Own Edging Setts ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden Porcelain Paving

Alternative for straight edging.  You can cut paving into strips, similar to coping stones.  This looks great in a traditional and contemporary garden design.  It also has the advantage of speed.  For long runs of edging.

GUIDE TO LAYING EDGING SETS ∙ PORCELAIN PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS ∙ HARPENDEN

With a little patience.  You can lay your own edging setts.  Creating subtle curves and formal lines.  For your garden design project St Albans.

Mortar Mixes ∙ Laying ∙ Edging ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙

Lay your sets using a sand cement mix.  4 : 1 is a good mix.  One shovel of cement to one of soft sand.  Your motor can be mixed in either a cement mixer or by hand.  Don’t worry a wheelbarrow of mortar will go a long way.  You can add a plasticiser to the mix to improve its workability.   You can add little soft sand if you have it.  Mix 3 sharp, one soft and one cement.  The mix needs to be fairly stiff.  But workable.  Definitely not a sloppy mix.

Tools ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden Porcelain Paving

You will need the right tools for the job.  A wheelbarrow to hold and move your mortar.  A shovel to mix and lay your mortar.  A medium trowel is useful.  A Level, to level your sets.  Finally a string line and a couple of steels or marking pegs.  If you are going for curves.  You can go freestyle and lay them by eye.  Over even better.  Get some marker spray with the aid of a hose.  Create your curve.  You don’t need to spray the hose!

Basic Laying Techniques ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden Porcelain Paving

You may need to create a trench to lay your edging in.   At this point, you can add some crushed concrete or MOT.   It really depends how firm your ground it.  Using a spade.  Lay a run of mortar.  Using the trowel create a V shape in the mortar bed.

Take your sett and carefully place it into the mortar bed.  Then the next. and the next. When you have a run of about 1m.  Use the level or a piece of timber to carefully level up your Setts. Adjust them by hand as you move along the setts.

Haunching ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden Porcelain Paving

Once you have finished your area, your can haunch in your setts.  Take some mortar and build up the mortar bed on the sides of the setts.  This will add extra strength to your setts and hold them in place!

Pointing is the final stage for your edging sets.  Hand mix a 4:1 or stronger.  You won’t need much.  Half a buckets worth.  A fairly dry mix is great.  With a trowel and fingers.  Squeeze the mortar into the gaps between the setts.  Tamp down to compress the mortar with a trowel.  And finally, smooth off with a trowel.  Allow the point mid to dry out a little.  Brush your stones with a soft brush. And that’s your edging sets completed!

Grinders · Discutters · Tables Saws

Cutting is best achieved using a grinder, disc cutter or table saw.

Right Blade of the right Stone ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Make sure you have the correct blade for the stone.  The blades are stone specific.  You won’t get anywhere cutting porcelain with a sandstone blade!  You really get what you pay for in terms of ease of cutting and how long the blade will last.  Opt for a ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving.  Ox and spectrum produce some great blades that last a long time.

Wetting the Stone ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Wetting the stone helps.  Many disc cutters have a built-in water supply that keeps the stone and blade wet.  This will prevent the stones from overheating and warping.  This is particularly common with grinders blades.  When cutting a look of stones.  The disc cutter blades are a bit thick and don’t tend to overheat as much.

Reduce your Dust ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Wetting will also reduce the dust generated.  Especially when cutting concrete.  Good for your health.  And good for other people working on site.   Let’s be honest the dust gets everywhere.  And can end up on your customers Porsche.  And we know concrete dust is not great for the paintwork!

Marking your Stone ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

I’ve used every method over the years.  Pencils, marking with a trowel and chalk.  I have recently been using paving markers.   They are not expensive.  Five for £10.  They are easy to lose as they do look like packers.  However, they are great for wet stones.  When it is raining.  Or you are wetting the stones to reduce that dust!

Safety ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Disclaimer · This is not a health and safety website!  Remember it’s your responsibility to ensure your site is safe and in line with current safety regulations. Always ready your tools safety manual.

Eye Protection ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Remember eyewear.  This is important for any landscaping’s task.  Dust, grit, dirt and splinters are common on landscaping projects at every stage of the game.

Ear Protection ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Ear defenders are a must.   Most tools generate noise.  Which will take its toll on your hearing.

Safety Boots Eye Protection ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

These are a must.  Steel toe caps.  Prevents injuries for dropping objects and when cutting stones.  Thick boots are essential and will prevent injuries.

Thick Trouser Eye  ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Jeans or construction trousers will prevent scraps and bruise when lifting or moving materials.

Gloves ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden ∙ Porcelain Paving

Prevents splinters and concrete burns when paving.  Helps you to grip.  Keeps your hands warm.  Generally makes your day more pleasurable!

This is a quick guide to laying porcelain in Harpenden and St Albans.  It’s not meant to be a definitive guide.  But more a guide to things to be aware of when laying your porcelain paving, St Albans & Harpenden.

Declaimer ∙ is your responsibility to refer to and adhere to the appropriate building Reg.

Getting Started ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Falls ∙ MOT ∙ Damp Coarse ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Things to be aware of.  The paving needs to drain away from the house.   Ensure you have an equal fall when excavating your base and filling it with compacted MOT.  If your subbase has a correct fall.  There is a good chance your paving will.

Make sure your paving doesn’t breach your damp coarse or is above air bricks.  If doubt consults the building regs.  In one instance.  For example, you may have to pave near the damp coarse.  French drains and channels drains can help.  Refer to building regs!

Coming Square Off the House ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Nothing in your garden is going to be square.  Boundaries and fences won’t.  And the existing landscaping won’t.  Your garden design and paving need to come straight off the house.  Certainly, your paving should.  Invest in builder square and work of the house.  And paving when constructing other garden design elements.

Cutting your stone ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

This is one of the biggest challenges when installing your porcelain paving.  Porcelain is extremely hard and brittle.  Cracking when you are just about to complete that tricky cut!

Invest in a couple of good quality diamond blades.  You will need them.  Thinks about investing in disc cutter.  Electric or petrol.  The small angle grinder just won’t cut it!  And maybe think about hiring a table tile cutter for porcelain.

The Bridge Bond  ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

With traditional natural stone.  The mortar is absorbed in the back of the porous stone.  ‘Sticking’ the stone to the mortar.  Porcelain is non-porous and so relying on this method may result in slabs ‘popping’.  You need to use a bridge bond such as SBR to stick the mortar to the porcelain, slab.

SBR can be a nightmare.  It sticks to everything.  Don’t add to your mixer.  You never clean it.  Anything it touches it adheres to.  This means you have to be fastidious.  To prevent the top of your slabs from staining!  Once it’s gone off you won’t remove it!

Pointing ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Forget the traditional sand cement pointing.  You will need a specialist porcelain pointing compound.  You can apply with a pointing gun.  Mix with a plasters paddle.  And have plenty of water and sponges for cleaning.

Adding interest and flair to your natural stone paving project and porcelain St Albans.  It includes selecting a design element.  Complimentary materials and suggestions for planting scheme.

CHOICE YOUR GARDEN DESIGN THEME ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

It’s a good idea to start your paving project by tying it into the overall design for your garden.  This should complement and work well with your properties style.  You may live in a period property.  Or a newer property with an overall contemporary style.  And work with existing materials in your garden.

GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS 

Introduction ∙ Contemporary Garden Design Themes ∙ Paving ∙ Porcelain ∙ St Albans

Contemporary garden designs will work well with modern properties.  And can also be used as a juxtaposition in a period property.  Curves a common and bold lines.  Complimentary quality materials work well.  Sandstone paving, porcelain paving, St Albans. Decking rendered block walls and slatted fences are common design elements.  Planting is bold and vibrant and can include alliums, grasses and phormiums.

CONTEMPORARY GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

Paving ∙ Porcelain ∙ Contemporary Garden Design

Most quality stones will work well in your contemporary garden design.  Sandstone Natural stone paving is affordable.  Natural in appearance, with a riven surface and rustic hand-cut edges.  It’s easily clean and can be sealed.  Giving you peace of mind and protection against stains. Popular colours include Kandla grey, raj green or autumn brown.  Lay a single sized pattern for a contemporary feel

Granite natural stone paving will work well in a contemporary setting.  Great for patio and pathways.  Point with easy point.  Porcelain paving will work well in garden design, St Albans.  Durable and available in a variety of contemporary greys.

 Other Landscaping Materials ∙ Porcelain ∙ Contemporary Garden Design · St Albans

Natural stone setts and edgers.  Are great for adding definition to your garden design project. The can be used to create subtle borders in your patio.  Or used to edge your planting beds or create a mowing edging strip.  They are available in sandstone, granite and porcelain paving, St Albans.

Sleepers ∙ are great for creating design elements in your garden design.  A vertical sleeper can be used to create sweeping curves in your garden design.   Creating raised beds for low maintenance planting.  They are also great for creating natural steps in your garden design.

Shingle ∙ Porcelain ∙ Paving St Albans

is great for creating drainage at the edge of pathing.  It can also be used to create contrast in your garden design.  It’s a good idea to add a membrane.  To prevent weeds.  If your shingle gets dirty.  Use a jet wash to clean the stones.

Boulders · pebbles · will also look great.  Especially around planting and water features. Bark is particularly useful to stop weed and water loss during those long hot summer months.

Paving ∙ Porcelain ∙ Contemporary Garden Design

Porcelain paving will always look great in your contemporary garden design, St Albans.  It’s available in some great contemporary colours and textures.  Planks look great in both contemporary and traditional garden designs.  It really comes down to the colour.  It’s a little more fiddly to lay than natural stone.  But worth the effort.  Being extremely durable and stain-resistant.

Design Elements  ∙ Porcelain ∙ Contemporary Garden Design · Paving St Albans

Other popular design elements include sculptures, water features and zone lighting.

Planting ∙ Porcelain ∙ Contemporary Garden Design · Paving St Albans

Shape Structure ∙ Bays ∙ Olives ∙ Bamboo ∙ Box Balls

Colour ∙ Crocosmia ∙ Rudbeckia ∙ Agapanthus

TRADITIONAL GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

Traditional Garden Design ∙ obviously works well with a traditional period property.  The lines tend to be more formal and geometric.  The landscaping materials are subtle and muted in appearance.  Slate is popular as so is autumn brown sandstone paving.  Hardwood decking looks great as so does timber structures such as pergolas.  Planting can be relaxed as in a cottage garden design.  Or a more tight and formal approach.  Echoing a country house look.  Plants can be a mixture of muted and hot colours.  Plants include box hedging, lavender and rudbeckia.

TROPICAL GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

Tropical Garden Design ∙ This will work well in modern or traditional style gardens.  It’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Great for sheltered gardens.  And especially gardens in the south.  Where the climate is a little milder.   It works well in small gardens.  Where you can easily pack in the plants.  Creating a tropical paradise!  The feel is definitely informal.  Subtle curves and rich planting is a must.  Paving, setts, decking and slatted fences are your key design elements in your tropical garden design.

Most paving stones will work well.  Lighter coloured stones do inject some light into your paving or porcelain paving, St Albans.  Porcelain is great as it is easier to clean.  And resistant to staining.  Great for those lighter coloured stones in your tropical garden design. Kandula grey stone stones work well.  It’s easy to seal with a water based sealant.  And so easy to clean.

Hard landscaping materials · really play second fiddle to the planting.  Planting needs to be full and lush.  The emphasis is on shape, leaf texture and colour.  Common plants include bamboo, tree ferns for shape and structure.  Agapanthus, canna lily and crocosmia for colour.

ZEN URBAN GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

Relatively new design concept. Gaining popularity.  With properties with panoramic view or their outdoor environment.  Through bifold doors.  Or corner windows.  This design concept work particularly well in a courtyard or small city garden.  Often a seating area is enclosed by lush planting.  With specimen plant creating an interesting backdrop towards the rear of the garden.

It combines traditional and contemporary materials with lush planting.  Modern elements such as gabions, log stores and artificial grass can be employed. Specimen plants are used.  The garden should have a calm and spiritual feel.  Echoing the Japanese style gardens.  Less is more.  Creating a sense of space and balance is essential.  Gravel, boulders and pebbles are often used.  With small water features and sculptural elements finding centre stage.

Porcelain paving will work well in this design, St Albans.  Single sized stone laid and geometric pattern.  Or planks.  Will look great.  Darker coloured stones will sit well with the design.  Plants include cloud trees, magnolias and tree ferns.

 PARRIE GARDEN DESIGN ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

SMALL GARDEN DESIGN ∙ COURTYARD GARDENS ∙ PORCELAIN ∙ PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS

DRAINAGE GUIDE ∙ PORCELAIN PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS ∙ HARPENDEN

Drainage is important for any paving project.  Here is our step by step guide to great drainage for your paving project.

Before Your Start ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

 You really need to have a good think about your drainage strategy before you start laying your paving.  It’s a good idea to have an idea of your finished paving height and the size and layout of your paving area.

 Existing drainage ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Have a look for any existing drainage. Where does your downpipe from the guttering feed into?  Where is your soil stack from the bathroom?  Where does it feed into?  Do you have a manhole cover?  Is your stormwater drain separate from your foul drainage system.  Connecting a linear drain to a manhole cover will need a gulley to be installed.

Waste Water ∙ Rain Water or Surface Water

Most houses built before 1970 have a combined drainage system.  Water from the bath, sinks, appliances, toilets and gutters flow into a common drain.

House built after usually have a separate wastewater system.  This goes to the treatment works via the sewer.  And rainwater systems are directed into rivers, ponds, streams and the sea.

Sending foul water into a Surface water drainage system will cause pollution.  Send rainwater into a foul water system can potentially overload it.  If you have two different systems keep them separate.

Storm Water ∙ Soak Away ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Some house.  May have a soakaway installed to deal with rainwater.  A soakaway is essentially a large hole.  Usually, at least a metre cube filled with free-draining material.  Rubble and bricks.   The water fills the avoid and drains into the surrounding soil.   Is only for clean surface water and rainwater.  And not foul water that would pollute your garden. 

They can get blocked up and filled with sediment or clay over time.  Many people wrap the inside with a membrane or a breathable material.  Commercial plastic crates are also available.

Plumbing to An Existing System ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

It may be possible to plumb into an appropriate drainage system or soakaway.  Maybe its easier to build a new soakaway to take the surface of your patio runoff.  It is a small area.  You may just be able to direct the surface water away from the house to a flower bed or turfed area.

FALLS ∙ PORCELAIN PAVING ∙ ST ALBANS ∙ HARPENDEN

To keep things simple.  Most patios are fairly level across the back of the house.  And fall away from the rear of the house.  Towards the back of the garden.

Gradients ∙ Soak Away ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

The gradient is the amount of fall on the surface of your paving.  For most residential projects you need a fall of around 1:60. That is for every 60 cm you need a 1cm fall.

Working Out the Fall ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

It’s easy to calculate the fall on a patio.  Measure the length.  For example, your length is 4.6m  Next divide the length by 60 to work out your desired fall.

Calculation ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

4.6m ÷ 60 = 0.76

0.076  x   = 7.6 cm fall

Marking Out Your Fall ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

It’s possible to mark out your fall with a string line and steel pins.  First, mark out your patio level.  For long runs put a level to your line to checks its level on the horizontal.  Next measure from the string line for your fall.  And mark with tape.  Finally, move the string line down to the fall.  You can now lay your patio to the line1

Calibrating Your Level ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

You can also calibrate your level.  Check the level of a metre length of timber.  Set it level.  Now raise one level to create a 1:60 gradient

Calculation ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

1m ÷ 60 = 0.016

0.016 x100 = 1.6cm

Raise one end by 1.6m.  Use plastic spacers for an exact measurement.  Mark where the bubble sits with a thin piece of tape.  Set the bubble to the mark for a 1:60 gradient.

Riven Stones ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Water will run off different stones at different rates.  Riven sandstone will need more of a gradient compared to smoother stone such as slate.  Porcelain is extremely smooth.  And water will run off it very easily.

 French Drains ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

French drains are probably the simplest form of drainage for your patio.  It’s simply a free-draining trench filled with gravel.  It won’t work simply by putting gravel on a concrete footing.  French drains are commonly used where the patio meets the brickwork of the house.  They are not going to handle large amounts of water.  As they quickly get saturated with water. 

Linear Drains ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Plastic or concrete channels.  Toped with a metal or plastic grill.  If you don’t like the grill.  They can be hidden by shingle.  The grill can easily be removed.  Which allows the linear drain to be clean.  Removing debris and leaves.  They can easily be connected to existing surface water drains.  Or directed into beds or existing gullies. 

Linear Drains ∙ Bifold ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Is popular to install bifold doors in kitchens and dining rooms.  Most people want their paving area to be at the same height as their kitchen or dining room floor.

This means paving near or over the DPM (damp proof membrane).  This isn’t ideal!  Many people install a linear drain to cope with this created problem.

Installing Linear Drains ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Install and linear drain is relatively straightforward.  Digg a trench.  If there is concrete.  It will need to be ground out.  The drain needs to be installed on a bed of mortar.

Any drains on the side of the pavement can follow the gradient of the paving.  Going across the linear drain will be relatively flat.  Don’t worry.  These drains have low friction.  And will still drain without overflowing.  Due to the weight of the head of the water. Porcelain paving St Albans.

Slot ∙ Brick ∙ Drains ∙ Porcelain Paving ∙ St Albans ∙ Harpenden

Slot drains are more discrete than linear drains.  With a small slit.  They are great for doorway and thresholds.  They do have the disadvantage.  This cover can’t be removed once covered with paving.  Which make cleaning them slightly trickier!