A one-metre drop and narrow steps, rebuilt in load-bearing brickwork with wide, safe steps.
// The brief
Doreen's terrace sat nearly a metre above the garden, with nothing holding it up and steps only 30cm wide. Getting into the garden was a daily risk.
This project was an immediate safety hazard. The steps were the worst of it: steep and narrow, so the garden was somewhere Doreen had to think twice about getting to.
// Before and after
Both are real photos of this job, taken before we started and when we finished.
// What we did
We carried out a full structural and safety overhaul over three weeks. The failing terrace came out, and we rebuilt it from the ground up: a brick retaining wall, a sandstone patio on top, and wide brick steps down to the lawn, so Doreen can get into her garden safely.
// Problems we solved
The problem
The terrace sat nearly a metre above the lawn, with no retaining wall and no barrier along the drop.
How we solved it
We dug out the failing terrace and built a load-bearing retaining wall in solid brickwork, to hold the 1 metre drop for good.
The problem
The old slabs rocked underfoot.
How we solved it
We laid a new Indian sandstone patio on a compacted sub-base, to take out the movement.
The problem
The steps were only 30cm wide, and steep.
How we solved it
We took them out and built wide, safely proportioned brick steps down to the lawn.
An uneven, high-upkeep garden made level and safe, with a sandstone patio and path.
Luton
A tired, weedy patio relaid in beige concrete slabs, with new sleeper edging and a step up to the lawn.
Harpenden
A year-old patio already sinking, lifted and relaid on a proper base.
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Where we work. Dunstable, Luton, Leighton Buzzard, St Albans, Hemel Hempstead, Aylesbury, Milton Keynes, and the towns and villages in between.