The Patio Specialist: The Essential Guide to Designing, Building, Improving and Maintaining Patios, Paths and Steps (Specialist Series)

Patios, paths and steps introduce interest into the garden, creating divisions, levels, seating areas and walkways. From tiny city backyards to spacious country gardens, there is a way of enhancing it with one of these features. "The Patio Specialist" is the essential book for anyone who is thinking of building one of these features, anyone who has bought materials but doesn't know how to start or anyone who has steps, a patio or a path and wants to know how to restore the feature to its former glory or give it a new lease of life. The book starts with the basics of assessing the garden, checking the site, planning and preparation, tools and materials and foundations. With the basics established, the authors introduce the many different types of patio and how they can be created, maintained and enhanced; from natural to brick patios, decking to split-level patios, furniture styles, planters, ornaments and lighting. Paths and steps are looked at in similar detail. Each subject is presented in a clear way with box features, lists and questions and answers. For both beginners and experienced DIY enthusiasts, this book will prove invaluable time and again, providing the reader with clear, concise, readily-accessible information. The key features include: new ideas for keen DIY-ers, capitalizing on the current popularity of improving gardening and outdoor spaces; ideal as a 'first book' for beginners to learn all the basics; and, an invaluable sourcebook of inspiration for more experienced DIY enthusiasts to refer to again and again.

Alan and Gill Bridgewater have gained an international reputation as producers of woodworking and DIY books on a range of subjects, including furniture-making, hand tool techniques, stone and brickwork, decks and decking, woodcarving and woodturning. They have written more than 50 highly successful books to date, and contributed many articles and designs to woodworking magazines, such as Craft Family. They live in Battle, East Sussex.