Hi,
We currently have (rotting!) decking in the back garden. It is raised from the level of the lawn with hardcore underneath the joists. There is a single skin brick wall at the end that meets the lawn with a decked step down to the lawn.
I am removing the decking and putting a patio down. As mentioned there is already hardcore there which is level with the top of the brick wall. This is the height we want the patio, and it is already two brick levels below the damp proof course of the house.
It seems a relatively simple job to level the existing hardcore out so it slopes away from the house appropriately, and then put down mortar and flags over the hardcore and the top of the brick wall (so the flags overlap the top of the wall).
I have a crude drawing to try and explain what I mean:
A is the lawn.
B is the single skin brick wall at the end of the decking.
C is the hardcore and D is where I plan to put the mortar and flags.
E is the house.
The single skin wall is 5 rows high and has another line of bricks just inside (under the current decking), creating a cavity of sorts. The inner bricks are fairly uneven though and weren't really supporting the decking in any way.
The size of the patio is about 15m2, roughly square.
1. Can the single skin brick wall take the weight of the patio flags?
It is currently holding up the hardcore (albeit with the beige bricks just inside it) so I don't think that is an issue, but if I add flags on the top will it still bear the weight.
The old decking joists sit on the top of the wall, so again it seems to be bearing up at the moment (and the decking has been up for many years).
2. Do I need to keep the beige bricks I have mentioned above, are they important to retaining the weight of the hardcore?
3. I am unsure about laying all the mortar down before starting to lay the flags, in case I run out of time in the day. Is individual bedding for each flag appropriate, or can I screed a smaller area, then lay flags, and potentially come back the next day to screed the next area?
4. Is there anything else obvious I am missing.
Let me know if you need any more details, and thanks in advance.
We currently have (rotting!) decking in the back garden. It is raised from the level of the lawn with hardcore underneath the joists. There is a single skin brick wall at the end that meets the lawn with a decked step down to the lawn.
I am removing the decking and putting a patio down. As mentioned there is already hardcore there which is level with the top of the brick wall. This is the height we want the patio, and it is already two brick levels below the damp proof course of the house.
It seems a relatively simple job to level the existing hardcore out so it slopes away from the house appropriately, and then put down mortar and flags over the hardcore and the top of the brick wall (so the flags overlap the top of the wall).
I have a crude drawing to try and explain what I mean:
A is the lawn.
B is the single skin brick wall at the end of the decking.
C is the hardcore and D is where I plan to put the mortar and flags.
E is the house.
The single skin wall is 5 rows high and has another line of bricks just inside (under the current decking), creating a cavity of sorts. The inner bricks are fairly uneven though and weren't really supporting the decking in any way.
The size of the patio is about 15m2, roughly square.
1. Can the single skin brick wall take the weight of the patio flags?
It is currently holding up the hardcore (albeit with the beige bricks just inside it) so I don't think that is an issue, but if I add flags on the top will it still bear the weight.
The old decking joists sit on the top of the wall, so again it seems to be bearing up at the moment (and the decking has been up for many years).
2. Do I need to keep the beige bricks I have mentioned above, are they important to retaining the weight of the hardcore?
3. I am unsure about laying all the mortar down before starting to lay the flags, in case I run out of time in the day. Is individual bedding for each flag appropriate, or can I screed a smaller area, then lay flags, and potentially come back the next day to screed the next area?
4. Is there anything else obvious I am missing.
Let me know if you need any more details, and thanks in advance.
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