A well laid patio should last thirty years or more, but the price you are quoted can vary wildly for what looks like the same job. Most of that difference sits underground, in the sub-base and drainage you never see. Here is what a patio really costs in the UK right now, what pushes the figure up, and how to read a quote properly.
For a straightforward patio on reasonably level ground, most UK homeowners are paying somewhere between £100 and £200 per square metre fully installed. That figure covers excavation, a compacted sub-base, bedding, the slabs themselves, pointing and waste removal. A modest 20 square metre patio therefore tends to land between £2,000 and £4,000, while a 40 square metre entertaining area is more likely £4,500 to £8,000.
Slab choice moves the number more than anything else. Budget concrete flags might cost £20 to £35 per square metre for materials, whereas Indian sandstone sits around £30 to £50, porcelain £40 to £80, and natural Cornish or Welsh slate and granite can climb well past £100 before anything is laid. Porcelain also costs more to lay because it needs a full priming slurry and cutting with a diamond blade, so labour on porcelain jobs is often 20 to 30 percent higher.
Ground conditions matter enormously in Cornwall. Much of the St Austell area sits on clay and china clay spoil, which holds water and heaves in winter. A patio on that ground needs a deeper sub-base, usually 150 mm of Type 1 rather than the 100 mm you might get away with on free draining ground, plus a proper geotextile membrane. That adds material and machine time.
Access is the next big one. If a digger and dumper can get to the back of the house, excavation for a 30 square metre patio is a morning's work. If everything has to go through the house or down a narrow terrace side passage in barrows, the same dig can take two days and the muck-away skip costs are the same either way. Levels matter too: a sloping garden that needs cutting into and a retaining wall built can double the budget before a single slab goes down.
Drainage is where cheap quotes usually cut corners. Building regulations expect a patio to fall away from the house at roughly 1 in 80 and to discharge somewhere sensible rather than against the wall. If you have nowhere for the water to go, you may need a linear channel drain and a soakaway, which typically adds £400 to £1,200 depending on how far the run is.
The visible slabs are the cheapest part of a good patio. Underneath, the ground should be dug out to around 200 mm below finished level, with all topsoil and organic material removed. A compacted Type 1 sub-base goes in with a vibrating plate, then a full mortar bed of at least 30 to 40 mm. Spot bedding, where blobs of mortar are placed under each corner, is faster and cheaper but leaves voids that let water in and causes slabs to rock within a couple of winters.
Pointing is the other place corners get cut. A sand and cement joint hand pointed properly, or a good two-part resin jointing compound, keeps water out and weeds down. Brushing in dry sand looks fine on the day but washes out by the first storm. On a 30 square metre patio, doing the joints properly is a full day, and that day is in an honest quote.
Ask for the sub-base depth, the bedding method and the pointing method in writing. Ask whether waste removal, a skip or grab lorry, is included, because in mid Cornwall that alone can be £250 to £400 per load. Ask about the fall and where the water is going. If a quote is a single line with a price, it is worth pushing for detail before you sign anything.
Be wary of a quote that is dramatically below the others. The slabs cost the same for everyone, so a much lower price almost always means less material underneath. A patio that rocks, puddles or sinks after two years is far more expensive to lift and redo than to lay properly the first time.
Materials alone for a basic slab patio might come to £40 to £70 per square metre, so you can save a good deal on labour. The risk is in the groundwork: a poorly compacted base or wrong falls will show within a year or two and cost more to put right than the original saving.
Usually not, as long as the patio is at ground level and either permeable or drains to a lawn or soakaway rather than onto the road or a neighbour's land. Hard surfaces over 5 square metres at the front of a house do need to be permeable or have planning consent.
A typical 20 to 30 square metre patio with good access takes three to five working days including the dig, sub-base, laying and pointing. Poor access, retaining walls or drainage work can stretch that to a week or more.
Got a job in mind across Cornwall or Devon? A quick call or message with Robert is usually all it takes to get a quote moving.