Large Format Sandstone Paving

The project

Large format sandstone paving being laid to a rear terrace, each slab bedded and levelled individually to keep the joints tight and the falls consistent.

The effort behind it

Slabs of 900x600 weigh over 70kg, so a vacuum lifter was used for every unit to protect both the stone and the team's backs. Two of the packs arrived with saw marks on the face and were sent back rather than laid, which cost a week but avoided a terrace the client would have looked at every day.

Challenges faced

Large Format Sandstone Paving asked the team to deliver a finished-looking garden in a single season — against wet ground, delivery restrictions in London, and planting that only tolerates being moved at the right time of year. Sequencing hard works before any soil improvement, and holding an experienced crew together through the weather delays, was what made the difference.

Team & involvement

A core landscaping crew stayed with the project from first excavation to the final sweep, supported by our in-house stone masons, electricians and planting specialists. Because the same team set out, built and finished the work, the detailing stayed consistent across every square metre — and the client dealt with one foreman and one phone number throughout.

A successful outcome

One season after completion, the garden at Large Format Sandstone Paving has settled exactly as designed: drainage performing through the wettest months, paving uncracked and planting establishing ahead of schedule. The client's own verdict, at the twelve-month aftercare visit, was that it looks as though it has always been there — the highest compliment a landscape can earn.