Patio
Indian sandstone terrace with a charcoal border
Grey and buff sandstone laid in random coursing, edged in a charcoal soldier course.
Driveways and patios in Wendover
Wendover sits where the vale meets the Chilterns scarp, and that single geological fact changes how a driveway or patio is built here compared with five miles north in Aylesbury.
The ground under Wendover
Coming up out of the vale the ground turns from clay to chalk. Chalk drains freely, which makes infiltration drainage genuinely viable, but it also brings soft spots and solution features that have to be found and dug out before a sub-base goes anywhere near them. We dig and look rather than assume.
Planning and heritage
Wendover has a designated conservation area covering the historic core. Inside it, permitted development rights can be withdrawn and alterations to front walls, gates, piers and railings frequently need consent. Materials and colour choices also attract more scrutiny than they would elsewhere.
Access, kerbs and deliveries
Plenty of the older properties front directly onto narrow streets with limited stopping, so deliveries and muck away need planning around the working day. A dropped kerb onto a classified road here will normally need planning permission before Buckinghamshire Council will licence the crossing.
Worth knowing locally
Slopes and levels
Frontages and gardens that fall away need retaining, steps and regrading before any paving is laid. That work is invisible in the finished photographs and is where a large part of the cost sits.
Permeable is easier here
On free-draining chalk a permeable build-up with stone storage generally performs well, which keeps you clear of the planning threshold without complicated drainage.
The kind of work we'd be doing for you
These are documented builds from our own photographs — the same details, edges and drainage we'd bring to a job in Wendover.
Patio
Curved steps and bullnose nosings
Tiered curved steps in charcoal block, sandstone and porcelain.
Garden
Full garden build with retaining walls
Terraced levels, rendered and clad retaining walls, turf and planting beds.
What we do in Wendover
Driveways
Block paving, resin bound, tarmac, gravel, imprinted concrete and permeable build-ups.
Patios
Porcelain, natural stone and sandstone terraces, steps and threshold drainage.
Landscaping
Full garden builds, retaining walls, planting beds, edging and levels.
Groundworks
Excavation, sub-base, drainage and everything nobody photographs.
Before anybody digs: three things to check
Planning permission, the kerb crossing and where the water goes. We work these out with you at quote stage — these pages explain the rules so you can check them yourself.
- Do you need planning permission? The 5m² rule →Wendover has designated heritage constraints, so check the planning position before anyone orders materials.
- Dropped kerbs in Buckinghamshire — £520.38 and the order it goes in →
- Where the water is supposed to go →
Buckinghamshire Council: dropped kerb licence — apply here (opens in a new tab)The council's own application page, with the current fee and requirements.
Download the “Before anybody digs” checklist (PDF)Two pages you can print and take round the drive — planning, kerb, drainage, and the questions to ask before accepting anyone's quote.
What it costs
Indicative rates are the same across our patch; what changes is the dig, the drainage and the access — all of which are set by your particular plot, not your postcode.