The Landscape Company
Structural Performance & Guarantees
External construction behaves differently from anything inside a house. It has to cope with rainfall, freeze–thaw cycles, soil movement, seasonal expansion, vehicles, furniture, roots, downpipes, slopes and time itself.
Most failures do not happen 15 years after installation. They reveal themselves quickly: loose slabs, failed joints, rocking steps, creeping edges, cracking walls, rutted driveways. These are not “bad luck”. They are the result of structure – or the lack of it.
This page explains how our guarantee is designed around how the ground actually behaves, not around marketing numbers.
We guarantee the structural performance of our patios, driveways, steps, retaining walls and groundworks for five full years.
Why five? Because that window captures the behaviour that really matters:
If a structure is going to move because of poor preparation, inadequate sub-base, weak detailing or flawed drainage, it will almost always show signs within the first few seasons. By year five, construction quality can no longer hide.
If your patio, driveway or retaining structure is still sound after five years of real use, it is overwhelmingly likely to remain sound well beyond that – unless new external factors are introduced, such as tree roots, excavations, diverted water or overloading.
Our guarantee focuses on structural performance – the part most people assume is covered, but which is rarely described clearly.
In simple terms: we guarantee that our structural logic and workmanship will behave as intended for at least five years under normal, agreed use.
Every meaningful guarantee has limits. Stating them clearly protects both you and us.
These are normal realities of external environments. We will always advise on sensible maintenance, but they sit outside the scope of a structural performance guarantee.
Alongside our structural performance guarantee, many paving and landscaping products come with their own manufacturer guarantees.
For example, Marshalls offer a 10-year product guarantee on certain materials when installed in line with their requirements – and, where applicable, under their Registered Paving Specialist schemes.
These guarantees typically cover:
Where we use products that carry such guarantees, we will highlight this in your proposal and paperwork so you know exactly which parts of your project benefit from manufacturer-backed protection as well as our own structural cover.
Our guarantee is not designed to win a “biggest number” competition. It is designed to make sense.
We work best with clients who think along similar lines to:
“Why don’t they just build things properly and charge a bit more?”
That mindset values:
In that sense, our guarantee is also a filter. If it feels reassuring rather than restrictive, you are probably exactly the type of client we are set up to serve.
For added reassurance, we offer an optional Year-5 Structural Review on completed projects:
Think of it as an MOT for your landscape. Most clients will never need remedial work – but the option is there if you like the comfort of a professional set of eyes at the point where the ground has fully told its story.
We do not promise that nothing in your garden will ever move or weather. No honest contractor can.
We do promise that the work we carry out is based on sound structural logic, appropriate materials and careful construction, and that we will stand behind its performance in a way that matches how external structures actually behave.
Permanent work deserves permanent thinking. Our guarantee is simply one way of making that visible.
Discuss Your Project & Our Guarantee
Our guarantee is built on the same structural logic that runs through our technical guides on patios, driveways, drainage and sub-bases. These pages go deeper into the forces and materials behind long-term performance.
Because five years of real-world use tells the structural truth. By that point, disturbed ground has settled, drainage has proved itself and any weakness in formation, bedding or restraint would have revealed itself. Longer headline guarantees often contain exclusions that quietly remove most structural scenarios. We prefer a guarantee that matches how landscapes actually behave, stated clearly.
No honest contractor can promise that. External work lives in a moving, changing environment. What we guarantee is that movement or failure will not occur due to our construction falling short of the structural logic and standards we set out when we design and build your project, within the agreed usage and constraints.
Manufacturer guarantees such as Marshalls’ 10-year product guarantee typically cover the paving products themselves against manufacturing defects, when installed in line with their requirements and, where applicable, under their registered schemes. Our guarantee sits alongside that and focuses on the structural performance of the build-up: groundworks, sub-bases, drainage and installation method.
If you notice movement, drainage issues or anything that concerns you within the guarantee period, we will investigate. If the cause lies within our design or construction, we will put it right. If the issue has arisen from external changes – for example new drainage, tree roots or overloading – we will explain the options and costs clearly so you can make an informed decision.
Yes. Your written proposal and project documentation can include a short-form summary of the TLC 5-Year Structural Performance Guarantee together with any relevant manufacturer product guarantees, so you have everything in one place for future reference or when selling the property.
If you would like to understand how our approach to structure, drainage and long-term performance applies to your garden, we are happy to talk it through – whether you are planning a new patio, driveway, retaining structure or a complete re-think of levels and water management.
Call: 01428 654812 · 07500 877949
Email: richard@tlchaslemere.co.uk
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