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Hi all,

Apologies if this is in the correct area, but I am looking for some advice on a patio.

Basically I have concrete outside of my patio doors and I was wondering whether I would need to smash it up in order to add slabs, or whether I could just build on top of it?

I have attached an image of it to try and help.

Any suggestions and help on this as this is all new to me would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Build on top of it. It's a great solid foundation.

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Keep the top surface of the new patio 150mm below the DPC in the brickwork, (more is better, but 150m is seen as a minimum to avoid long-term damp problems).

Hi Both,

Thanks for the advice.

I have never done this sort of thing before, so apologies if the messages sounds really stupid.

I am looking at extending out this new patio to passed the wall that you can see in the picture - so I was wondering how I would level it up with the current concrete that I have - would it be best to knock the wall down, dig up the grass passed that and then concrete it to the same level?

Also, I have attached another image as the entire concrete at the minute has a small gap that goes across the full width and also has a little dip also - not sure what your thoughts are on this also, to allow for the patio slabs after it.

@ayjay - I am not sure where the DPC in the brickwork is sorry, can you explain? I have measured and from the concrete to the bottom of the ledge on the patio doors is 17cm - so not sure if this gives enough room for everything we need?

Appreciate the advice guys!

Take a picture from a bit further away so we can see the DPC.

Thanks for the reply.

I am away from home currently and even though I am aware what DPC means, I am not sure where this is to take a picture. But I can take a picture further away at the wall and hopefully that will help.

If you can take a picture showing the current patio surface as well as the bottom of the patio door then hopefully the DPC will be between the two.

Sorry for the delay, I have been away from home over the holiday break.

Attached are two images of this - hopefully you can see from this image and help advise.

Appreciate your help!

craigfarrall90 wrote:
Attached are two images of this - hopefully you can see from this image and help advise.

The first image appears to show the dpc just under the cill of the door frame (where I'd expect it to be), the joint in the brickwork is wider there which is a good indication - a bed of compo is laid first and then the dpc and then another bed to lay the bricks on, this makes it wider than a normal brick joint.

Thanks for your response @ayjay - so would you say this is ok to lay patio slabs on then?

As I am wanting to extend into the garden (knock the wall down and go into the grassed area), would you say it's best to concrete the grassed area level to the current concrete then just build on top of that?

craigfarrall90 wrote:Thanks for your response @ayjay - so would you say this is ok to lay patio slabs on then?

As I am wanting to extend into the garden (knock the wall down and go into the grassed area), would you say it's best to concrete the grassed area level to the current concrete then just build on top of that?

The same criteria still stands: the finished surface of the patio should be 150mm (minimum) below the dpc.

Thanks for the advice @ayjay.

I have been doing some further research and I understand much more now about DPC and what is required now.

I have one final question, before I feel comfortable getting started on this.

I am wanting to extend the patio out further than what is currently concreted. So I would be knocking down the small wall and then going into the grassed area. Would it be best to concrete the grassed area first, before laying the slabs on top of everything to ensure it's the same. Or would it be ok if the the concrete remains and the soil is the initial base? Obviously I would need to ensure all is level (excluding the small run off point), but I am just not sure if this will cause any issues or not.

Any advice on this would be appreciated.