Diagnose it first
Problems & repairs
Most outdoor problems have a cause that is nowhere near where the damage shows. These pages explain what each symptom usually means, which repairs genuinely last, and when replacement is the honest answer.
Driveways
Cracked tarmac driveway
Tarmac rarely cracks for cosmetic reasons. The pattern of the crack tells you whether you are looking at a surface issue you can l…
Read the diagnosisPotholes in a driveway
A pothole is what happens after a crack has been left open through a wet winter. Water gets into the base, freezes, expands, and l…
Read the diagnosisSunken block paving
The great advantage of block paving is that it can be taken apart. A dip is not a write-off - the blocks themselves are almost alw…
Read the diagnosisWeeds in block paving
Almost everyone assumes weeds in a driveway are growing up from the soil beneath. They are not. Seed blows in, lands in the joint,…
Read the diagnosisOil stains on a driveway
The realistic outcome depends almost entirely on the surface. Oil sits on top of sealed concrete block, soaks into porous stone, a…
Read the diagnosisDriveway flooding & puddles
Standing water is not just a nuisance - it is the single biggest cause of premature driveway failure, because everything that goes…
Read the diagnosisCrumbling driveway edges
Edges fail first on almost every driveway, and for a simple reason: the outer strip carries load with nothing on one side to push …
Read the diagnosisFaded block paving colour
Three completely different things get described as fading: a white bloom that appears in the first year, a gradual loss of pigment…
Read the diagnosisResin driveway problems
Resin-bound is a thin wearing surface. It has almost no structural strength of its own - it does exactly what the base beneath it …
Read the diagnosisGravel spreading & rutting
Loose gravel is the cheapest driveway surface to install and the most expensive in maintenance time. Every car that turns on it mo…
Read the diagnosisConcrete driveway spalling
Spalling is the surface layer of a concrete slab breaking away, usually in thin flakes that expose the aggregate below. Dusting is…
Read the diagnosisTree root damage
Root damage is the one driveway problem where the cheapest technical fix - cutting the root - is often the worst decision, both fo…
Read the diagnosisDropped kerb & access
You can build the best driveway in the street and still not be able to use it if the crossing over the footway is not right. The k…
Read the diagnosisPatios & Paving
Uneven patio slabs
An uneven patio is a safety issue before it is an aesthetic one - a lip of more than a few millimetres is enough to catch a toe, a…
Read the diagnosisCracked patio pointing
Pointing is the part of a patio that fails first, and usually because the wrong product was used for the joint width or the slab t…
Read the diagnosisMoss & algae on patios
A green film on paving is a safety problem in autumn and winter, and the usual reaction - a hard blast with a pressure washer - ca…
Read the diagnosisPatio in the wrong place
Plenty of patios are perfectly well built and almost never used. Usually that comes down to two things: it is too small for a tabl…
Read the diagnosisGardens & Drainage
Waterlogged lawn
A soggy lawn is one of three problems wearing the same coat: compacted topsoil, heavy subsoil that will not let water through, or …
Read the diagnosisGarden drainage problems
Water always goes downhill, and in a lot of gardens the lowest point is the back of the house. Once you know where the water is ar…
Read the diagnosisSteep or sloping garden
A slope is not a problem to be removed - it is levels to be organised. The moment a garden is split into two or three flat terrace…
Read the diagnosisShady, boggy garden corner
Every garden has one: a corner that gets no sun, stays wet, grows nothing but moss and quietly becomes a dumping ground.…
Read the diagnosisLeaning retaining wall
A retaining wall is a structure, not a decorative feature. When one starts to move, it is holding back more than it was built for …
Read the diagnosisLandlord & rental outdoor works
Rental outdoor space has a different brief from a family garden. The priorities are safety, low upkeep and durability, because nob…
Read the diagnosisFencing & Gates
Rotten fence posts
Timber posts almost always fail in the same 100mm band at ground level, where the wood is alternately wet and exposed to oxygen. E…
Read the diagnosisLeaning fence
A lean is a slow-motion version of a blow-down. Something is losing the argument with the wind or the soil, and every season it gi…
Read the diagnosisDropping or sticking gate
A gate is the hardest-working element on any boundary. It carries its own weight on two points, gets slammed, and has to stay squa…
Read the diagnosisGarden Rooms
Damp in a garden room
Most garden room damp is not a leak. It is condensation - warm, moist indoor air meeting a cold surface, usually because insulatio…
Read the diagnosisGarden room base problems
The base decides everything about how a garden room performs. Get it right and the building is square, dry and stable for decades.…
Read the diagnosisNeed more space at home
This is the most common brief we get that is not about a driveway: the house works, except for one missing room. An office, a gym,…
Read the diagnosisReady to transform your outdoor space?
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