Homes with very different gardens
Stockton's homes cover a wide spread. Yarm and Egglescliffe have Georgian and Victorian townhouses, often with walled gardens that are smaller than you'd expect. Hartburn, Fairfield and Elton have handsome Edwardian and 1930s houses on wider plots. Ingleby Barwick and Wynyard are mostly modern detached homes, where the builder left a slabbed patio, a strip of turf and a fence.
That last one is the garden we're asked about most. A builder's patio is usually small, a little uneven and starting to look tired. A composite deck can cover it, extend it and give you a level, good-looking space the full width of the house. We explain how in our guide to decking over an old patio.
Composite or timber?
Our advice is honest and usually simple. If you want a deck you can use and forget about, choose capped composite decking. It doesn't need staining, doesn't splinter and copes with the damp that drifts up from the Tees valley in winter.
If you live in an older house and want the look and smell of real wood, we'll build you a hardwood deck and explain the care it needs. Plenty of Yarm and Norton gardens suit timber beautifully.
More than one level
Gardens in Eaglescliffe and Preston-on-Tees often fall gently towards the river side, and Wynyard plots can be large enough to want more than one seating area. A multi-level deck lets you have a dining deck by the kitchen and a second deck lower down, joined by wide steps.
How we build
A deck is only as good as what's underneath. We check the ground, keep all timber clear of the soil, leave enough air under the boards and make sure water drains away from the house. If there's an old patio, we check it's stable before we build on it. All of that goes into the quote, so you know exactly what you're getting.
Questions we get asked
Do new-build gardens suit decking?
Very well. They're often flat with a small patio and poor turf, and a deck gives you more usable space straight away. We check how the builder graded the ground and where the drains run before designing.
Can you work round a fence that belongs to the neighbours?
Yes. We keep the deck frame clear of boundary fences and walls, so neither the fence nor the deck is damaged and either can be repaired later.
What happens to turf you dig up?
If the deck goes over lawn, we lift the turf, prepare the ground with membrane and gravel, and take the turf away unless you'd like to keep it for elsewhere in the garden.