Patios in Pity Me

Front Street and the closes

Front Street is the part of Pity Me people name. It follows the old Great North Road, with brick semis facing the pavement and shops in the row. Behind that line the ground breaks into closes of later houses. A semi on the street often has a side gate and a long lawn. A house in a close may have a fence on three sides and a path only wide enough for the bins. Older rows can still have a back yard onto a rear lane, or a yard reached only through the kitchen.

We treat both as Pity Me. Our team looks at the house in front of us. One household wants a table by the back door. Another wants a walk to a shed. The quote starts from that difference. Framwellgate Moor continues the same road south, and Newton Hall sits to the east, so the built-up edge is continuous even where the names change.

Clay under the gardens

The gardens sit on clay. After a wet week the lawn stays soft, and a low corner by the fence can hold a puddle. The Wear is not at the bottom of these plots. It runs south, in the gorge through the city. This is higher ground on the north side of Durham, yet the clay still lets rain through slowly. We look up the mapped deposit on the British Geological Survey Geology Viewer, then we trust the spade, because one close can differ from the next.

A patio here needs a fall away from the wall, to a border, a lawn or a gully that already serves the yard. We do not shed water onto a neighbour's path or into the lane. Where the ground is soft we take out the worst of it and lay stone, packed in layers until it stays firm. Edges are held so the paving cannot creep. Flags and pavers are set solid, clear of the air bricks, and finished below the door sill. The flood map for planning is the check for a low corner. We do not guess a zone from DH1.

Banks, sills and the way in

Some gardens step down from the house on a low bank, or rise towards the back fence. A landing outside the door, then one step to a lower area, usually sits better than a single tilted slab. If that raised part would stand more than 300 mm above the ground beside it, we pause. That height is where a patio starts to be treated as a raised platform, and Durham County Council may want an application.

A side gate lets us bring flags in without crossing the hall. A house with only a front door means we carry materials through, and we agree the route first. Rear lanes, where a row still has them, are the simplest way in. Low sills need the paving kept down. For lanes, banks and tight yards across the city, read our guide to back yards in Durham.

A ground-level patio at the back usually does not need a planning application. More than five square metres of sealed paving in front, shedding water to the road, usually does. Letting rain through, or running it to a bed on the plot, is the ordinary alternative. Conservation areas are on the national planning data map. Check it if a front wall is part of the work.

Stone, porcelain and the block

Sandstone flags sit well against the brick of the older semis. Riven stone grips in damp weather. Sawn stone is calmer beside a later extension. Porcelain suits a pale, even floor that does not hold clay on wet shoes. Block paving in herringbone earns its place where the same area takes bins, bikes and a side path, because small units turn an awkward corner.

Stone patios, porcelain and block paving are the three we lay here. A warm buff flag can lift a shaded yard. A mid-grey porcelain can quiet a fence line. The right one suits the light in that garden.

From the road to the back door

Garden patios in Framwellgate Moor begin where Front Street runs on south. Garden patios in Newton Hall cover the estate to the east. Our team quotes them the same way: the postcode, the shape of the space, and what you want to stand on. Ask for a quote and say whether the garden is a long semi plot, a close, or a yard off a lane. Mention a bank, a low sill, or a gully. Front Street looks level from the pavement. Behind the houses, the clay and the gates decide the work.

Next door to Pity Me

• Garden patios, Framwellgate Moor: South along the old road, where Front Street runs on towards the city.
• Garden patios, Newton Hall: East, the estate roads that meet Pity Me at the edge of the suburb.

Patio types we lay in Pity Me: stone patios, porcelain patios, block paved patios.

See every area: All areas covered.

Common questions from Pity Me

Sources: Planning Portal: patios and driveways; British Geological Survey Geology Viewer; Flood map for planning; Planning Data: conservation areas.