Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Building a patio whilst pregnant

15 replies

MakeMineAMilk · 20/04/2021 23:16

I have some pretty good basic DIY skills. I am desperate for a patio with a nice comfey garden chair to enjoy the sun on.
I can't really afford to pay someone to do this. Do you think I would be able to do it myself? I intend to lay sleepers around the edge as its near a tree (so I would need a friend or 2 to lift them into place for me) and then back fill with the various layers (hardcore etc) and finish it off with paving slabs. My mental health isn't great at the mo and I think this might just give me a little place to escape and read as I get increasingly fatter Grin
Am I mad?

OP posts:
RachelRavenR0th · 20/04/2021 23:17

I was going to ask what he had done... Grin

Embracelife · 20/04/2021 23:21

What is there already?

IKEA runnen is easy and lighter to move you don't want to risk heavy slabs and injury
www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/runnen-floor-decking-outdoor-brown-stained-90234226/

MaraScottie · 20/04/2021 23:24

How pregnant are you?

I would approach this with caution, not because of any risk to the baby but your ligaments are so loose and you could do yourself some serious harm lifting and dragging heavy stuff. It'll be a huge amount of heavy manual labour

Can you enlist some friends and feed them for the day?

imabusybee · 20/04/2021 23:25

Why not? I did plenty in all three pregnancies. Most recently I fitted our kitchen at around 20 weeks, including laying the laminate floor at about 24 weeks. I also laid a vinyl floor in our playroom at about 33 weeks. If you're fit and active it will be fine.

Aquamarine1029 · 20/04/2021 23:33

If you're healthy and used to physical activity, you'll be fine. I did all sorts of dyi, building, painting, work in the garden, etc, whilst pregnant. The night before I went into labour with my daughter I was mowing the grass. I was, and I am not, some superhero, obviously, but I felt great and was healthy. Pregnancy is not a disability unless it's causing problems. Be smart, don't do anything daft, and get help when needed.

WellIWasInTheNeighbourhoo · 20/04/2021 23:41

I did a little area of patio on my own recently and the paving slabs were heavy, really heavy. I wouldn't have been able to do too many of them. I ended up using a little trolley to move and manoeuvre the slabs around which helped. But without the right equipment anyone could hurt themselves.

Cocksinsocks · 20/04/2021 23:46

People do manual labor throughout pregnancy right until the end and give birth in war zones. If you're fit and well and feeling up to it I'm sure you'll be fine.

RachelRavenR0th · 20/04/2021 23:52

I think you are mad, yes.

Youre not fit and well at the moment. Especially if wanting an iron infusion! Youve got so much on already youre not managing, you do not need an extra project on the go.

Andthenanothercupoftea · 21/04/2021 06:07

If it's the sort of thing you could tackle when not pregnant, then give it a go. As others have said you need to be mindful of yourself due to potential ligament damage etc. You may also get tired more easily and want to plan it over a few more days/weekends than you thought.

Getting friends round for the day to help and feeding them is a great idea.

sarahc336 · 21/04/2021 06:24

Erm from watching my partner do a patio with sleepers last summer I'm going to say no sorry. The stone is so heavy, you'd need to wheelbarrow all the rubble and rake it around to make s layer to put the mortar on for the Slabs. Also mixing morter is very physically demanding and then you'd heed to be on your hands and knees to get it into the right position. Also sleepers as they are heavy should really be fixed into the ground so concrete foundation first and then the sleeper is s trees into that using a massive screw. We had our sleepers 3 high so maybe if your just having 1 it would be different but if you were going to stack them just imagine if one was to fall onto a child/someone so they have to be done right. I watched my partner do this whilst pregnant last summer and there just no way I could have helped personally xx

FlaviaAlbiaWantsLangClegBack · 21/04/2021 06:27

I pulled muscles in my chest digging up the big grey kind of paving slabs, they're unbelievably heavy even using leverage. I really wouldn't do it pregnant.

People do do manual labour and give birth in war zones but why make it a race to the bottom?

Original poster
MakeMineAMilk · 21/04/2021 08:39

Ok so realistically I am going to need to get help......I think my BIL would help and I have a teenage son who is pretty good at this kind of thing. Maybe I just need to sit back and give directions.

I haven't been too well during this pregnancy as I have really low Iron levels. I just need something to cheer me up. Both my neighbours either side have such lovely gardens and mine is a tip. I just want to sit in the sun.

I will see who I can bribe with a take away. Thanks for the input.

OP posts:
SlidesAndLadders · 21/04/2021 09:04

The sleepers we're having laid at the moment are 60kg each. Could you carry an adult as far as you need to carry the sleepers?

TheSpottedZebra · 21/04/2021 09:27

Agree that the slabs etc are REALLY heavy and its so easy to underestimate how loose your ligaments are. So I think that building the patio entirely yourself is out.

But you want a project, so get one! You could plan it, plan and do the planting lots of things, for your sunny seating area! Now is an excellent time to start sowing seeds that will be ready later on in the year...

nickymanchester · 21/04/2021 10:39

Here's an example of a woman I subscribe to on Youtube laying her own patio and sleepers.

It's quite doable, although given what you've said I agree that:-

Maybe I just need to sit back and give directions.

Is probably the best course of action

New posts on this thread. Refresh page