What actually drives the cost of a patio in Jersey?
When people compare patio quotes, they usually compare the bit they can see — the tiles. But most of what you’re paying for is underneath, and it’s the part that decides whether your patio still looks right in ten years.
Here’s what actually moves the number, so you can compare quotes properly.
1. The ground works
A patio is only as good as its sub-base. Stripping out the old surface, digging down to firm ground, building up a properly compacted sub-base and getting the falls right is the bulk of the labour on most jobs. A cheap quote often means a thin sub-base — and that’s where sinking, rocking slabs and puddles come from.
If a quote doesn’t mention the sub-base, ask.
2. Drainage
Jersey gets real weather, and water has to go somewhere. Falls need to carry rain away from the house, and on enclosed or walled gardens that often means channel drains or soakaways. Drainage is sometimes the difference between two otherwise similar quotes — and it’s never the place to save money.
3. Access
A back garden you can reach with a digger and a dumper costs less to build than one where everything — spoil out, stone in — goes through the house or down a narrow lane in a wheelbarrow. Town courtyards in St Helier are a classic example: lovely results, but the access shapes the labour.
4. Porcelain vs natural stone
Large-format porcelain has become the go-to for a clean, modern finish — it’s hard-wearing, doesn’t stain, and copes well with Jersey’s freeze–thaw and salt air. Natural stone has a character porcelain can’t quite match, but needs sealing and a little more care. Both need precise laying; porcelain in particular is unforgiving of a poor base, which is why it should never be the cheap option.
5. The edges and everything around them
Steps, retaining details, walls, lighting ducts, fencing — the things that tie a patio into the rest of the garden are often half the project. It’s worth deciding early whether you’re doing “a patio” or “the garden”, because doing it as one coordinated build is cheaper than coming back twice.
How to get a quote you can trust
Send photos of the space, rough dimensions if you have them, and a note on access. A good landscaper will then come and look before giving you a firm number — soil, levels and access can’t be priced from a photo alone.
That’s exactly how we work: send us the details — or message us on WhatsApp — and Stuart will come out, talk through the options and follow up with a clear, no-obligation quote. You can see recent patio work in our projects, including a full garden transformation in St Saviour.