A Front Path Rebuilt from the Ground Up

The before image shows the job once the old concrete came out. The slab had not just cracked. It had failed completely, breaking apart in large sections with the soil fully exposed beneath. There was no foundation left worth saving. A front path used every day in all weathers needs a base built specifically to take that use, not one patched up and hoped for. The decision was straightforward. Break it all out, start from the ground, and build it right.
The extent of the failure also meant the foundation needed more than a standard slab. A damp proof membrane was laid directly over the soil to stop moisture rising through the new base. Concrete reinforcing mesh was positioned throughout to give the slab structural integrity it previously lacked. Only then was the full new slab cast on top. That level of groundwork does not appear in the finished photographs. It is why the finished path will still be there in twenty years.

The tiles are printed porcelain at 330 x 330mm, which means the Victorian-style geometric pattern in black, white, brown and blue is printed across the face of each tile rather than being formed by laying individual pieces of different colours. What that means in practice is that the pattern only works when the tiles line up precisely with each other. A tile that is even slightly out of position breaks the repeat and the geometry reads as wrong across the whole path. Getting the pattern to run cleanly from the gate to the front door, with the repeat consistent and the lines true across every tile, requires the setting out to be resolved in full before a single tile is placed. There is no correcting it as you go.
The external corners by the gate were mitred rather than using the standard tile trims. It takes more time and more precision but the result is a sharp, clean edge that gives the path a considered finish suited to the character of the property. The front path now looks as though it belongs to the house. The foundation beneath it means it will stay that way.