Advice required : Patio complete but garden left like this

philstanbridge

philstanbridge

philstanbridge

Man of Honour
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,522
Location
West Coast of Scotland
Hey guys, need a bit of advice.

We had a porcelain patio layed 3 weeks ago. We wanted the patio to align with the level of the grass - for easy mowing and aesthetics. We were told this wasn't a problem. It does not align. It is a raised patio and at the highest part is 6 inches above the grass level. We also had no idea the condition of the garden once they had left. It has been left with concrete dust/grit and debris in places on the lawn, and the grass has been devastated in places. This was partly due to the weather which was typically wintery. But it is looking like a battlefield. It looks like we are going to have to foot the bill for new turf at least.

The guy said we needed to rotovate the lawn, and mix up the existing soil with some sort of water absorbent material which would help with the drainage. This has not been done. He said that he was doing a job around the corner today, and the turf from that job would be used on my lawn. I was expecting him to appear at some point to finish off. He's not appeared, and he's not replying to his email. We know he has started the other job up the road, and he has always emailed back promptly before he was paid.

I felt a bit uncomfortable with his attitude and was going to hold back half what we owed until he finished the job, but in his eyes the job he said had been finished, and the lawn was something he would deal with free of charge in his own time. He also admitted that we wanted the patio to align, and it did not, but he wiould be able to deal with it with the turf, oresumably by levelling up.

So I'm in a bit of a quandry where to go from here. I'm not particularly wanting to talk to him face to face anymore as he has lost my trust. But at the same time we need the garden finished.



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The patio looks level with the fencing I think. The problem you'd have is making it level with the grass it'd be in a wonk?

Not sure how you'd make the grass the same level, without it going up hill to some degree?

Hope you can get something sorted though man
 
Seeing as you're not happy with the lawn I would consider getting the garden dug over, a small retaining wall built by the fence to bring the height of the lawn up to the patio and grade it all with fresh top soil and turf.

Probably achieve the best result without the hassle of involving the previous tradesman who to be fair has done quite a good job on the patio itself. Have you checked the fall of the patio takes water away from the house to the lawn, the slabs are beneath the DPC (supposed to be 150mm technically but not always followed) and there's a gravel strip border between the house and patio to prevent splashback onto the bricks?
 
Shouldn't have paid him, his claim he will bring turf from another garden is just laughable really. He should have ensured he started the patio at the correct height so the gradient meant the patio finished level with the grass.
 
Delvis said:
The patio looks level with the fencing I think. The problem you'd have is making it level with the grass it'd be in a wonk?

Not sure how you'd make the grass the same level, without it going up hill to some degree?

Hope you can get something sorted though man
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Well this was our concern too. The grass does incline slightly, but its only really apparent now. Before the border was put in I had no idea. I was under the impression he would rotovate the entire lawn, and that it would slope the same way it does now.

norm said:
Seeing as you're not happy with the lawn I would consider getting the garden dug over, a small retaining wall built by the fence to bring the height of the lawn up to the patio and grade it all with fresh top soil and turf.

Probably achieve the best result without the hassle of involving the previous tradesman who to be fair has done quite a good job on the patio itself. Have you checked the fall of the patio takes water away from the house to the lawn, the slabs are beneath the DPC (supposed to be 150mm technically but not always followed) and there's a gravel strip border between the house and patio to prevent splashback onto the bricks?
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That sounds like a lot of extra work! Costly. We've already spent £5.5k getting it to this stage. There is a border and extra slabs down the other side, whcih you cant see.

We think the patio has been layed properly. We were under the impression the reason why it is raised is because the drainage is so poor in the garden.
 
200sols said:
Shouldn't have paid him, his claim he will bring turf from another garden is just laughable really. He should have ensured he started the patio at the correct height so the gradient meant the patio finished level with the grass.
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Well it's easy to say that but harder in reality. I did consider holding half the payment back until the garden was finished to a state I was happy with, but he argued that the work quoted was complete. He had a point - the patio looks good. The other work looks good, it's just unfinished in my opinion. He's even left rubbish and debris things that he should have cleared away. It's like he left in a hurry. It's bizarre.
 
philstanbridge said:
I'll just add, this guy has a really good local reputation. He has done work for several of my neighbours too. It just doesn't add up.
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I'd contact and state exactly that, I've come to you off if reccomendations from neighbours, maybe give him a day to sort his shizzle out
 
I think you may need to manage your own expectations. Is the patio at the right height leaving the property? Unfortunately if your garden, which it looks like a new build (and therefore typically poorly laid in any case on a bed of rubble) is turfed into a dip, and he didn't quote to entirely refill your garden, not sure what you want him to do?

The grass looks very low and even the fence is wonky. To level that off you need a retaining wall and a new fence.

Or you should have asked him to build the patio on a slant? Even worse.

The soil/grass that is damaged just needs seeding but it's hardly the weather for it.
 
That's a good point. The thing is, there is no communication. It's not professional. He offered to rectify the problem. He said he knew we wanted it level with the grass. He would sort it. Today was the day, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt. When he first started laying the patio he had two other blokes working with him - there was a huge commotion at one point with heated swearing and shouting. He was moaning at the older guy with him. I said to myself then, he's ****** up somewhere. I don't know exactly what it was about, but after that the main guy was doing the work the older chap was doing, and the older chap was relegated to watching the cement mixer. So what was that all about I wonder?
 
I think you're over thinking this. Maybe take a step back and describe what you actually want him to do, and then assess the practicalities yourself? Lining up with the house being priority to avoid weird gradients to make it hit something that's arguably easier to fix.

In terms of professionalism, he's laid a 10 out of 10 patio by the looks of it, and unfortunately he is being judged on a part of the puzzle out of his control.

In your final picture it looks roughly inline with the lawn and when the grass hits full growth it'll line up nicely.

I know exactly where you are coming from though.

Edit: I had a crap roofing fix that followed a similar pattern to yours but gave benefit of the doubt on timing as it wasn't hurting me at all. Your man may be thinking the same, he can come tomorrow or in a month or two and the fix/outcome will be the same.

Edit2: and throwing some sod on will just cover the issue up. It'll die anyway as it's too early in the year.
 
Thekwango said:
then perhaps he shouldn't have said it wasn't a problem - though i am going on the assumption that it was him told the op it wasn't a problem.
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It's ground works, you aren't buying a flat white at McDonald's. Any sensible person would see the lawn is a million miles out and if it was so important to raise the lawn should have had it itemised.
 
dLockers said:
Any sensible person would see the lawn is a million miles out and if it was so important to raise the lawn should have had it itemised.
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irrelevant, patio guy must have seen the job needing doing before hand. op wanted the patio and lawn to line up. it's up to patio man to manage the op's expectations and telling him it wasn't a problem when he wasn't up to the job is his issue not the op's
 
Thekwango said:
irrelevant, patio guy must have seen the job needing doing before hand. op wanted the patio and lawn to line up. it's up to patio man to manage the op's expectations and telling him it wasn't a problem when he wasn't up to the job is his issue not the op's
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Your expectations of a patio man are too high. Two totally separate jobs (and day rates).
 
Lol.. Okay. we wanted a mowing strip, and a patio that was level with the grass. At the moment what we have is a raised patio, with no mowing strip.

I realise the grass etc can be sorted, and to be honest the state of the grass isn't a massive issue. We knew with the weather it was going to get messy. It's the fact that it isn't what we wanted. He knew this, he admitted this. He said he would sort it. He hasn't.

The guy is a landscape gardener, not exclusively patios. Surely he would have known all this pitfalls prior to starting the job?
 
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