The house is beautiful but the paving let it down. It was old, dated and the owner’s didn’t have any pride in it at all. They now love their patio and it feels like a new extension of the house.
Dan Shaw – Marvel Paving & Construction
In this blog article we’re following the patio transformation of this English Country Garden. With the use of our Hale Beige Sandstone and the expertise of Marvel Paving and Construction what was once a drab set of terrace spaces has now become an airy inviting set of surroundings! In our video (below) you’ll be able to see the garden makeover from start to finish and as we were documenting this build we got to catch up with Dan Shaw, of Marvel Paving & Construction, for his thoughts on the build.
Craig Stovold @ Forest Stone
I can’t actually remember what the house was like before as it’s been a little while. Was this courtyard space paved before and was there much of a patio around the back?
Dan Shaw @ MPAC
This courtyard area was pre-dominantly shingle and there was a patio made of old concrete stone effect slabs at the rear. It was smaller however and the slabs had got very dirty and were quite ugly. So we’ve now paved this courtyard space and made the rear terrace larger too using your light coloured Indian Sandstone.
I actually picked this job up from doing some fencing for the owners. I said to them “Have you ever thought about re-doing your patio? Because your house is beautiful but your patio is not!”. A couple of years later and we’ve now built this lovely new patio for them that they are really proud of.
Craig Stovold @ Forest Stone
Do you think building a new patio was something the client was thinking about any way?
Dan Shaw @ MPAC
Not really I don’t think. I got the impression that I planted the seed for the idea. I could just see the potential of what the right paving slabs could do for this property.
Craig Stovold @ Forest Stone
Yeah, I think we are a bit warped being in this industry. We’re so used to seeing paving in different settings and slabs in different colours and designs that when we see a garden with bad paving or not much paving at all we start to see areas of the garden that could really be improved by a patio terrace. Spaces within the garden that they are not using or spaces that are crying out to become seating areas for example. I think the average person might just think that if they have a few slabs or some hard standing in the back garden, no matter how big or where it is, that it will do.
What I want to know is how much of selecting the colour of the sandstone and the detail parts like these paved brick in-fills you’ve done was down to the client and how much was down to you?
Dan Shaw @ MPAC
Ha, probably 95% me really. I feel like an artist but my medium is slabs and bricks! I could see what was possible with this property and had the brick in-fills as an idea in my head that would work really well here. I’m not sure if the client really understood what I meant when I first mentioned it but when we started paving I left gaps and laid six different colours of brick randomly in the gaps dry. We tried different patterns like stretcher bond, basket weave and we found the herringbone style pattern worked the best. I think it’s a fantastic way to tie the paved areas to the house.
Craig Stovold @ Forest Stone
I know from previous jobs of yours that you love a herringbone pattern! With the brick infills I do really like the way you got a cream coloured brick involved – really bonds the paving to the house design wise. I think the lighter cream coloured Hale Beige Indian Sandstone was a good choice too as this courtyard section of the garden does not get a great amount of natural light and the bright paving lifts the feel of this space a lot. Was it you that suggested the client go with this type of sandstone?
Dan Shaw @ MPAC
Yeah there was the option to go for a darker more earthy tone but I advised the lighter stone would give this area in particular a lift. I spoke to client recently following our to the property and they’ve now got the biggest patio pride ever – she’s even telling people to take their shoes off to walk on it! This courtyard area is just off the kitchen and now you can really imagine this space being used to drink a morning coffee and have a piece of toast or something.
Craig Stovold @ Forest Stone
Yeah that’s the thing when you’ve created a space like this it encourages people to use it more.
Dan Shaw @ MPAC
Exactly – it really helps you to enjoy what you’ve got.
We love documenting garden makeovers like this – a special project to be involved in. And one the clients will be appreciating for many years to come as they spend more time in this lovely space. Watch the project video below.
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