To think that £17k for a patio is quite a lot?

[Shreddiesandmuseli]

It’s about 26m2, we want it done in porcelain. Quote excludes VAT. Is this this going rate for a patio atm or aibu this seems a lot? We’re in west Yorkshire. Previous patio has been dug up and removed so just rubble left atm. Thanks for any advice!

That’s really quite rude, you can give your head a wobble.

It’s also (a) not dirty, (b) gorgeous and (c) dirt is irrelevant cos it’s a patio in a garden, where dirt is sort of part of the DNA. Expect you’re one of those who hoovers your astroturf.

I’m not sure the cost of porcelain but we had a range of quotes for an average sized patio, standard paving - anywhere between 2.5k and 5k. I nearly fell off my seat. Apparently all time high for materials (covid / Brexit) and cost of workers!

That seems very expensive to me. We had a similar sized porcelain patio laid around 4 years ago, including 2 levels and a step for £4k (SE England). I know labour and materials will have gone up in that time, but even so that's quite a jump.

Oh I forgot, that also included replacing about 4m of fencing . Our biggest quote at the time was 9k

That is an extraordinary amount of money OP.

It is very important that you do your own homework.

Price the EXACT tiles you want.
The shop should be able to tell you approximately how much base and grout you need.

As the area is mostly prepared, you could ask the shop of an idea how long a job like that might take.

Get proper quotes with a full breakdown of cost and the time it will take.

Don't be tempted by cowboys.

Do you know anybody that got the job done well?

Wait for the right crew.

Research is key.
The more you know about the job you want done, the less likely you are to be ripped off.

Rushing to get it done by a cowboy will be something you regret and crap workmanship devalues a home.

Take your time, do your homework and get the right person for the job.

There is no reason why you wouldn't buy the tiles directly and have them delivered.

Sounds pricey.

Wow - I don't feel so bad about the £4200 it's just cost us to have our concrete slab patio lifted and replaced with Indian stone plus the path the length and width of the house. That included hiring a mini digger for a day and removing all the rubble.

Get a proper a itemised quote. Building material prices are through the roof(sorry for the pun!).

I've just had a 50sqm landscaping with a french limestone inc sets

Remove all concrete slabs and some old brick walls
Lay patio with resin grout
5 days work 6k! Are we're south east

I did get a few silly quotes of 17k and the like.

I’m involved in this general area.
The things we would always say is get people in who have been recommended to you (we NEVER have to advertise, work speaks for itself).
You pay for what you get, there are people cheaper but they definitely won’t do as good a job, that said some people genuinely don’t mind this and therefore using a slightly less skilled professional suits them.
Quotes are always just that, there’s no tie in. If it doesn’t suit you’re budget then it doesn’t you don’t have to go with them.
Porcelain is pretty but yes expensive, maybe chat with your landscaper (if you actually liked them, because you do need to trust them) about alternatives?
Also cost breakdowns? In the industry it’s a pretty rude thing to do, most don’t really do as it’s hard to get the client to understand why certain things are so high and what’s involved. It’s not to pull the wool over peoples eyes. Maybe (but not all) companies don’t like it if you decide to go off and say you will get the materials for them cheaper. It’s a pain, it means you are reliant on the client really understanding the needs, sizing, quality, delivery, access, tolerance etc etc.

Hope this helps a bit!

We’ve had 44m2 including patio and pathways laid in the last month. Labour was about 3k porcelain slabs about 3k other materials about 500. In the south east.I’m gobsmacked at 17k OP!!!!

@Rainyjubilee - how rude.

@BlueKaftan - nice patio! Also nice cushion and cat...

Sounds like they don't want the job!

DH is an ex builder.
He said 14-18k.
We are in West Yorkshire too

Thanks all. Quite a range of estimates but I think general consensus is that it’s far too much. I did ask for a breakdown of costs today but was told they don’t do that. Feel would be useful to see but as people have said, maybe it’s because it’s difficult to appreciate the individual costs. Maybe my husband will have to brush up on his DIY skills and do it for us!

I agree with what you're saying.

But please don't use the phrase "we've worked very hard to get where we are". Many people work bloody hard and earn minimum wage. Others work very responsible, pressurised jobs for very average salaries.

You work hard in a lucrative industry presumably which is fair enough. But your phrase insinuates that people without your wealth don't work hard, which obviously is far from the truth.

Oh cmon, we don’t always have to “be kind”, it’s filthy. We can all see the obvious dirt, we don’t need to buy things pretending we can hide the dirt. It’s also fine it’s dirty.

the poster said don’t buy porcelain as it gets dirty, like it’s a bad thing, then posted a pic of a very obviously visibly dirty patio, the point is they all get dirty, you need to clean them. It’s not a hard thing to do, but we shouldn’t pretend that porcelain gets dirty and the poster didn’t then post a picture of a filthy patio.

Or you could? You don’t lay tiles with a penis 😉

I have literally just had the same size done in porcelain and it cost us £14000, It took 2 men 5 weeks to lay it was a big job (one week of rain) and we pretty sure he under charged and the current builder we have here doing another job said he would have charged nearer £20k

Why did it take five weeks? Ours took about that and is raised, but it’s nearly five times the size.

Not very helpful if you want to do it quickly, but I'd park the idea for a year or two. The cost of materials and any trades has gone through the roof and 17K for a patio is a lot of money.

Same reason as it's not worth buying a house that needs extending at the moment. 'Cheaper' to buy a bigger house (if you need to move and the space straight away).

We had ours done last February. 6m x 4m plus a 1m x 8m path in Indian sandstone, steps out the back door and sleepers for edging. £5k. Took 5 days and included the removal of the old slabs and groundwork to get it flat and extended out.

They did say if I had asked in spring/summer then it would have been more like £7k, so maybe wait until after summer, ready to enjoy next year.

That’s ridiculous. We have just had a patio done nearly double that size, in Indian Sandstone. The job also included around 30m of new fencing and a large wooden pergola, taking out a tree and some large shrubs, levelling ground and removing a skips worth of excess soil (all labour, all materials included plus skip hire). We paid £12k, and we’re in the south east.

Ours was £13850 for around 80m2 porcelain and included the below. We provided the porcelain and epoxy grout which was about £4.5k on top of this. This was in late 2020. The porcelain was laid on compacted hardcore

1. Supply and lay drainage at the back of house for patio to drain into.
2. Lay patio slabs to be Supplied by customer.
3. Lay sleepers for retaining walls .
4. Lay bark chip to right hand side of property.
5. Lay concrete base for hot tub

Ours is only 11m2 roughly, but we've done it all ourselves and cost us about £700 and that was with porcelain tiles. (I used eBay and got some leftovers from a huge project that weren't needed so the tiles were cheaper than usual)