Cheaper suggestions for patio please!

[Currysauceandchips]

We need to sort our patio. Have had 2 quotes of £10,000 to replace with new slabs, which we can't afford. We are wondering if there is a cheaper option? The slabs are in ok condition but need to be cleaned, taken up, membrane put down to stop weeds then regrouted. We are not very practical so would need someone in to do it for us. Do people do this? Any suggestions much appreciated!

Wowsa that's alot. I know things have gone up but goodness - is it a big area?. Have they given you a breakdown and have you priced out the stones yourself and enquired about labour only?
Plus, have you tried power washing them?

You can buy spray solutions online that will clean up paving slabs and then you can simply hose down. Very effective.

I got quoted £550 to paint a soffit board on the front of my house, decided in the end I would just do it myself. Ridiculous prices at the moment.

You’ll always get weeds eventually. Invest in a power washer and a weeding tool.

I'm also looking for something similar! My yard has crackled, uneven concrete on it.

My mum suggested getting it decked instead, thinking that's cheaper - but I'm not sure it is?

What?! How big is your patio we did 4x3 with nice(ish) stone slab for under a grand inc vat. last summer
(London suburbs)

Are the slabs york stone?

IMO the only way to do these kinds of big project cheaper is to do it yourself . Do you not have any friends / family that could advise . Jet washing etc will make it look better obviously as a temporary measure . We need a small patio and a path in our garden and got some quotes for around the 5/6k mark , mainly because my husband is getting on a bit and I don’t really want to kill him with work . He won’t pay that so he is doing it in block paving . The materials will probably come in at around £1200 and I’ve ordered a petrol compactor for £300 ( Aldi special ) and he’s currently outside messing about with his footings . He’s also an absolute perfectionist so I know it will look as good if not better than getting someone in .

Actually, if you are physically capable of moving paving slabs then it is really easy to do it yourself.

It you just search on youtube for "lay a patio" you will get a lot of videos showing you how to do it.

This is the one that actually persuaded me to have a go at it myself. It's a woman who laid a new patio from scratch by herself:-

Actually, the woman in that video is somebody that I've been following for a little while and her videos have encouraged me to take on a whole lot more stuff myself.

Sorry, that was the wrong video. This is the one I meant to link to:-

I would look for different quotes or asking of them to give you cheaper alternatives?
If they slabs are fine they can be reused, there are plenty of decent cleaners that will bring them up.
£10k seems crazy prices for a patio though depending on size. We did a 10x6ft space 2 years ago for £2k

We had a small area done a couple of years ago, we paid £268 for the slabs (just looked at the invoice!) And £750 for a handyman type person to lay it. It was 3.6m X 2.7m so quite small.

We removed the previous poured concrete (took a weekend and we gave beer and petrol money to our friend with a van).

You can get open moulds (like cookie cutters but about 50x50cm) which you lay on prepared, flat ground. You then put concrete in, let it set slightly before removing & end up with a lockblock paving effect.

Or if it's just a case of restoring the patio, here's an example of how to do it:-

That's a huge amount! Have you tried local FB page for tradesmen? Or mybuilder.com? DS got 3 quotes for fencing, patio (sandstone), some turfing and a shed- all around £4500.

Don't forget that you can hire the tools to do the job too.

That's an insane price! How big is the area? I got quoted £4500 for a 5x4 patio recently and thought that was a ridiculous price. Think they're bumping prices up due to lockdown demand.