Raised patio - solid or deck on legs?

[Bert Coules]

I'm thinking of building a rear-garden patio raised to the level of the interior floors, the idea being to be able to walk though the patio doors with no step down. The height above the existing ground level would be almost exactly 24 inches.

Decking on legs is presumably a practical possibility but I rather like the idea of a solid construction with a paved or stone top surface. Since this would, I assume, have to be built onto the external wall of the house, it would breach the damp proof course. A boundary wall of brick or blocks could be built with a matching DPC, but what is the usual arrangement for the solid infill? An overall membrane that covers the entire area? Or something else? I would have to trunk out the present airbricks, but there seem to be materials specially designed for that.

Alternatively, could a solid patio be free-standing, separated from the building by a small but definite air-gap?

Many thanks for any thoughts.

[harry]

The pressure treated wood is shit these days. They have done away with the copper and arsenic so it rots PDQ You can put in a vertical DPC also make sure the surface of your patio slopes away from the house to drain rainwater away.

[Tricky Dicky]

Decking will probably the least problematic regards the CPC and blocking the air vents. If as you seem to prefer something solid then why not combine the two by building your patio separate from the house thus leaving an air gap which could be bridged with a short section of decking.

Strictly speaking any deck higher than 300mm above ground level needs planning permission and I also think building control approval.

Richard

[Chris Hogg]

A strip of heavy duty polythene up against the house wall extending above the existing damp course and decking/patio surface, with telescopic air vents coming from the existing vents also to above the decking/patio surface, like these

[Chris Green]

Note that this will need planning permission, anything over 300mm does.

[Steve Walker]

The regs refer to "Putting up decking, or other raised platforms." I can see that covering raised decking or a retaining wall, infilled and covered, but do generally raising the ground level, with no retaining walls and putting a patio on it count as a raised platform? It probably does, but I don't know.

SteveW

[Chris Hogg]

OOI, is that only for structures in contact with a dwelling, or does it include, for example, raised flowerbeds made with railway sleepers?

[Bert Coules]

Many thanks to everyone for the replies. I do in fact have planning permission for a raised patio though the design submitted was slightly different from the version I'm thinking of now. I don't know if the changes would be sufficient to warrant submitting an amendment, though.

The question about raised flower beds is an interesting one; I have two such, also around 24 inches high, and I'm afraid it didn't occur to me to seek permission to build them.

[Steve Walker]

Definitely not required for them. It was brough in to stop people standing or even sitting on raised decking and overlooking a neighbour's garden, invading their privacy.

While you might climb onto a raised flowerbed to dig it, you are not standing around chatting and drinking there and taking a good look in neighbouring gardens.

SteveW

[Bert Coules]

Good and reassuring points; thanks.

[Brian Gaff]

My thought is that you don't want decking as its a haven for Rats and the decking will need replacing a few years on. However you do not say which way your garden slopes, and whatever you do there is going to have to be steps or a slope down to the garden too. I see alot of patios made as you describe, with no obvious step, so it has to be possible to do without having damp issues. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

But of course nobody really bothers. You only need to look at the back of a few houses in this road, and most of them had it done with no planning application. Some of the issues created for the neighbours has caused friction and flooding though so one has to be mindful of removing current drainage situations or indeed building walls between properties with hole in them for the water to flood next door!

It never ceases to amaze me the messes people get themselves in over a stretch of concrete or paving. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

These days if you only want to snoop on the neighbours there are plenty of little cameras you can do it with with ease! Brian

[Bert Coules]

Brian,

Thanks for that, and your other thoughts. The exact arrangement of steps down to the garden level is something I'm still working on: in a wilder moment it occurred to me that raising the level of the entire garden could well be a simpler alternative, even with all the other complications it would bring, though I suspect I'm really straying into the realms of fantasy with that one.