Landscaping
A patio works hardest when the levels, planting and lawn are designed around it.
Exterior
Every summer you say the same thing: this patio has had it.
Rocking slabs, green algae, pointing that washes out every winter, or no patio at all where one obviously belongs. Tell us what you are planning and we will introduce you to patio professionals whose insurance and credentials we have already checked.
What we cover
Typical patio projects
- New patios: a full build from excavation and sub-base to the finished paving.
- Replacing an old patio: lifting failed slabs and rebuilding on a base that will not move.
- Repairs and relaying: rocking slabs, failed pointing and localised settlement.
- Porcelain paving: increasingly the default choice, laid on the substrate it actually requires.
- Natural stone: sandstone, limestone and slate, sealed and jointed correctly.
- Steps, edging and drainage: the details that decide how the patio performs in the wet.
What we will ask you
So we can match you accurately, the enquiry asks whether this is a new patio, a replacement or a repair; the approximate area; the material you are considering; how the space currently drains; and how easy the garden is to access.
Drainage is in there deliberately. A patio laid flat, or worse, falling towards the house, sends every rainfall at your damp course. The fall built into the base matters more than the slab you choose. Every question has a “not sure” option, including the material.
Why choose Kalvaro
The slab is the last five per cent of a good patio
What you cannot see decides everything: the depth of the sub-base, the falls that carry water away from the property, and a bed suited to the material. Porcelain in particular needs a different substrate approach to natural stone, and a company that lays both the same way is telling you something.
Vetted before introduction
Trading history, public liability insurance and identity, verified before a partner sees your enquiry.
Groundwork taken seriously
We introduce companies who price the excavation, base and drainage honestly rather than winning the job on the slab and losing it underground.
Evidence of real patios
Every partner submits photographs of completed work as part of their application.
How it works
Four steps, one conversation
1Tell us about your patio
A few guided questions about the space, the material and the site.
2We review your requirements
A member of our team reads it personally.
3We introduce paving specialists
A small number of suitable, vetted partners.
4You choose with confidence
Compare, decide and start on your terms.
Completed work
Recent patio projects
What this page will show once our founding partners have work to photograph.
Photography is coming, and it will be real
This is Kalvaro artwork, not a photograph. We have deliberately not filled this page with stock images of somebody else’s patio, because presenting bought imagery as a partner’s own work is exactly the sort of thing we exist to avoid.
As our founding partners complete patio projects, their photographs will replace this, with their permission and their name against the work.
Patio questions
Frequently asked
Porcelain barely absorbs water, so it resists algae and staining, but that same property means it needs a full mortar bed with a priming slurry to bond. Natural stone is more forgiving to lay and ages differently, and most types need sealing. Neither is wrong; what matters is that the installer treats them as the different materials they are.
Almost always the base: too shallow, poorly compacted, or slabs spot-bedded on dabs of mortar that leave voids underneath. Rocking slabs and washed-out pointing are the symptoms. Rebuilding on the same base repeats the failure, which is why a proper assessment is worth having before anyone talks materials.
Yes, deliberately and away from the house. A consistent fall carries rain to a lawn, border or drainage channel instead of pooling or heading for your walls. It is subtle enough that you will not notice it underfoot, and important enough that we made drainage one of the enquiry questions.
Usually not for a patio at ground level in a garden, though significant changes of level, raised terraces near boundaries and listed properties can be exceptions. The professionals we introduce will flag anything about your site that needs checking.
Pricing is agreed directly between you and the professional you choose. Area, material, existing ground conditions and access all move the figure, which is why the enquiry asks about each. Kalvaro makes the introduction; we do not set or guarantee prices.
If the base is sound and the failure is local, relaying a section or repointing can be the right answer, and the enquiry has a repair option for exactly that. If the base has failed broadly, patching becomes a subscription. An honest professional will tell you which situation you are in.
Related services
Often planned together
Fencing
New boundaries and a new patio are easiest built in the same disruption.
Resin driveways
The same groundwork disciplines, applied to the front of the property.
Tell us about your patio
A few minutes now, and a vetted professional looking at the ground as carefully as the paving. Free to property owners, with no obligation.