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Replacing decking and lawn with patio on a house for sale


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Old 04-01-2017, 10:44
wench
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I'm wanting to sell my house this year but because I have a dog that uses the garden, the lawn has been pretty much destroyed.

Its not huge, probably only about 12ft wide by 40ft long, one third is concrete, one third is decking and the rest is lawn.

I would like to replace the decking and lawn with patio instead, so can anyone give me a ball park estimate for someone to rip up the existing decking and lawn and replace with patio?
And before anyone suggests that its easy to do yourself....... I don't have the time and can happily pay someone else!!

But also more importantly would you bother doing this work to make the house more saleable? or do you think its a waste of time and money and that it won't add much more value to the house?
Personally I would prefer to view a house with a tidy garden but I would like more opinions from others.
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Old 04-01-2017, 11:09
MarellaK
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I would never buy a house without a lawn. I saw some lovely houses a few years ago when I was last looking but the fully patio-ed back gardens deterred me. I love gardens and grass/greenery.

However, it may be a positive for many people who aren't keen on mowing lawns. I still think you would be reducing your market because I know many other people who feel like I do.

I think the price will depend on the area where you live and the quality and finish of the patio. It cost me over a £1000 for a tiny patio to be put in (with bricks rather than slabs). There's a lot of digging to lay a proper foundation/base before putting down the slabs or bricks. A couple of years ago I was charged over £500 just to have a concrete base put in for my shed, which is not big.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:11
joiji
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We are house hunting right now and your current garden you describe would not put us off, it's just cosmetic. No gardens look their best in the winter and in my eyes a new patio would add no value to me in this situation, it would actually de-value. We prefer a garden to be more grass than patio/decking so if I've understood correctly you intend to make the whole garden area a patio I would actually offer less (about £3k), as I would factor in costs to rectify this, even if you told me the patio was brand new. I personally would just put the property on the market as it is and save the money and see what responses you get from viewings. Most people plan some sort of change when they view a house as properties rarley tick everything on your wish list - unless you have an unlimited budget! A messy/destroyed lawn is a very minor.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:21
eluf38
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We are house hunting right now and your current garden you describe would not put us off, it's just cosmetic. No gardens look their best in the winter and in my eyes a new patio would add no value to me in this situation, it would actually de-value. We prefer a garden to be more grass than patio/decking so if I've understood correctly you intend to make the whole garden area a patio I would actually offer less (about £3k), as I would factor in costs to rectify this, even if you told me the patio was brand new. I personally would just put the property on the market as it is and save the money and see what responses you get from viewings. Most people plan some sort of change when they view a house as properties rarley tick everything on your wish list - unless you have an unlimited budget! A messy/destroyed lawn is a very minor.
This. I would never want a house with a patio instead of a lawn. The garden can be re-seeded or the new buyer might decide to put gravel or paving down, but I imagine most people would appreciate the choice. You might need to reflect the required renovation work in the price, but I don't imagine that putting down a patio would actually add to the house's value, because it restricts the outside space's usage.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:23
wench
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I would never buy a house without a lawn. I saw some lovely houses a few years ago when I was last looking but the fully patio-ed back gardens deterred me. I love gardens and grass/greenery.

However, it may be a positive for many people who aren't keen on mowing lawns. I still think you would be reducing your market because I know many other people who feel like I do.

I think the price will depend on the area where you live and the quality and finish of the patio. It cost me over a £1000 for a tiny patio to be put in (with bricks rather than slabs). There's a lot of digging to lay a proper foundation/base before putting down the slabs or bricks. A couple of years ago I was charged over £500 just to have a concrete base put in for my shed, which is not big.
The issue I found is that the lawn area is so small that it wasn't really worth all the hassle of mowing it!
I would either turf it all or patio it all, but I don't want to re-turf it all only for the dog to destroy it again before I sell! hence why patio might be better idea.

I live in north Kent and happy with slabs and so I hope it will less than £1000.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:29
wench
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We are house hunting right now and your current garden you describe would not put us off, it's just cosmetic. No gardens look their best in the winter and in my eyes a new patio would add no value to me in this situation, it would actually de-value. We prefer a garden to be more grass than patio/decking so if I've understood correctly you intend to make the whole garden area a patio I would actually offer less (about £3k), as I would factor in costs to rectify this, even if you told me the patio was brand new. I personally would just put the property on the market as it is and save the money and see what responses you get from viewings. Most people plan some sort of change when they view a house as properties rarley tick everything on your wish list - unless you have an unlimited budget! A messy/destroyed lawn is a very minor.
Thank you for your input.

Personally I wanted a lawn too and hence why I chose my house, but over time I noticed it was just so much hassle to look after such a small lawn, if it were much bigger it would have been better.
Maybe I should look at re-turfing it all instead?

But you make a good point, maybe I should just put it on the market and see what the viewings are like. I just thought that it might put people off as it looks absolutely terrible right now with so many bare or yellow patches everywhere!
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:33
wench
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This. I would never want a house with a patio instead of a lawn. The garden can be re-seeded or the new buyer might decide to put gravel or paving down, but I imagine most people would appreciate the choice. You might need to reflect the required renovation work in the price, but I don't imagine that putting down a patio would actually add to the house's value, because it restricts the outside space's usage.
Good points.

Looks like most people prefer lawns, so do I, but maybe I'm just worried it will put people off with the way it looks right now.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:35
Maxatoria
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Just stick an extra 500 quid on the asking price so you can reduce it when they moan at the state of the garden.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:38
elliecat
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We dismissed a really nice house because the garden was paved over. It was really nice but we wanted grass. Grass can be fed or reseeded, taking up a patio is a lot harder.
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:49
joiji
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Thank you for your input.

Personally I wanted a lawn too and hence why I chose my house, but over time I noticed it was just so much hassle to look after such a small lawn, if it were much bigger it would have been better.
Maybe I should look at re-turfing it all instead?

But you make a good point, maybe I should just put it on the market and see what the viewings are like. I just thought that it might put people off as it looks absolutely terrible right now with so many bare or yellow patches everywhere!
Hi Wench, a garden like that would not put me off as I would think hmmmm "would not take much time or too much effort to replace the grass come the spring". I would look at a patio and either think "no I'm not viewing that, it has no garden" or "thats a lot of manual work, time and money to lift and replace with grass" and knock £3k off the asking price. I would not bring up the state of the lawn, as soon as you mention "work that needs to be done" people start knocking money off mentally. If anyone mentions it who is definately interested in buying you could offer to replace it before they move in or knock £250 for them to replace in the spring/summer - still cheaper than paying for a patio now and i'm sure they would go for money off so you wouldn't have to do anything. Good luck!
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Old 04-01-2017, 12:59
eluf38
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Good points.

Looks like most people prefer lawns, so do I, but maybe I'm just worried it will put people off with the way it looks right now.
You have a dog, right? I don't think there's much point re-turfing it then, as dog tracks and bald patches in the grass will be a problem as long as your dog lives with you. I'd be tempted to say, 'listen, I know the lawn's a bit of a mess, I have a dog... but it can be easily sorted.'

Then do what Maxtoria suggested and add £500 to the asking price so you can be seen to be 'fair' by offering them a reduction!

You never know, the new owner might also have dogs and not mind at all!

I think buyers go to a house viewing expecting some work to need doing. Nobody expects pristine perfection, especially if kids or pets are there. When we viewed our house there was a huge bald patch where a giant trampoline had blocked sunlight and stopped grass growing. By the time we'd exchanged and moved in I'm pretty sure it had mostly grown back.

If you're really worried that the lawn looks awful, try buying some potted flowers and plants and dotting them along the patio and decking, so that the eye is drawn away from the lawn.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:13
wench
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Thanks folks, looks like the general consensus is to simply leave it right now and adjust the price accordingly if it proves an issue for any buyers.

Which is great news for me! I save money and hassle!

Thanks all x
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:42
Steve9214
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My garden is quite large and had decking which went rotten (the previous owners had laid the timbers straight onto bare earth)

New decking would have been at least £1500 - £2K

Smashed up the decking, put some paving stones outside back door, then laid down underlay and put a tonne of large decorative pebbles / stones down, with a large stone sundial type decorative paving feature.

Took a week to get done, and cost about £500 for materials.
Biggest headache was washing the stones before laying them on the underlay.

Some of the paving stones wobble a bit in bad weather, but it all looks quite good.

Rest of garden is lawns and bushes so did not replace all of it - about a quarter.

We even used the huge canvas bag the stones were delivered in as an underlay for a pond liner, to make a wildlife pond in a corner of the garden.
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Old 04-01-2017, 13:53
wench
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My garden is quite large and had decking which went rotten (the previous owners had laid the timbers straight onto bare earth)

New decking would have been at least £1500 - £2K

Smashed up the decking, put some paving stones outside back door, then laid down underlay and put a tonne of large decorative pebbles / stones down, with a large stone sundial type decorative paving feature.

Took a week to get done, and cost about £500 for materials.
Biggest headache was washing the stones before laying them on the underlay.

Some of the paving stones wobble a bit in bad weather, but it all looks quite good.

Rest of garden is lawns and bushes so did not replace all of it - about a quarter.

We even used the huge canvas bag the stones were delivered in as an underlay for a pond liner, to make a wildlife pond in a corner of the garden.
Thanks but I don't have the time, inclination or skill to do anything myself, I'd rather pay someone
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Old 04-01-2017, 15:55
Vast_Girth
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Unless its tiny, all paved gardens are horrible. They feel like prison yards. It would put me off a lot more than some manky grass.
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Old 04-01-2017, 16:49
wench
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Unless its tiny, all paved gardens are horrible. They feel like prison yards. It would put me off a lot more than some manky grass.
Manky Grass it is then!
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