A finished back garden: grey riven porcelain paving with a gravel margin, a timber sleeper edge, and freshly laid striped turf behind it.
The same garden before the work: cracked concrete, a low concrete block retaining wall and patchy grass.
The same garden, before we started.

Most of a job is covered up by the time you see it.

So we photograph it first. Roofing, guttering, roof repairs, driveways, patios, groundworks and fencing. Ace and Sons, Orpington.

Find us on

  • Google
  • Checkatrade
  • Bark
  • Trustpilot
  • Yell.com
  • MyBuilder
  • Rated People
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • WhatsApp

What we do

Seven trades, from the ridge to the ground under the drive. One firm, so nobody has to be chased. Each one has its own page.

The roof

Roofing

New roofs and re-roofs on pitched tile. Strip the old covering, then felt, batten and lay.

A roofer in orange hi vis working along the ridge of a newly tiled roof.

Guttering

Gutters, fascias and downpipes. Clearing, repairs and replacement runs.

A roof slope photographed from the scaffold, with the eaves and gutter line running along the bottom of the frame.

Roof repairs

Slipped and broken tiles, ridge and hip work, valleys and flashings, and leaks traced back to where the water actually gets in.

An old tiled roof with moss along the courses and ferns growing out of the valley.

The ground

Patios

Porcelain and stone patios, laid on a dug and compacted base, with the edges held.

A finished patio in light and dark porcelain with a timber sleeper edge and a gravel margin, inside a new close board fence.

Driveways

Tarmac, gravel and block paving, with the edges set and the levels taken before anything is laid.

A finished gravel driveway with a charcoal block paved edge and a new tarmac apron at the road.

Fencing

Close board and panel fencing, gates and posts.

A new close board timber fence beside a gravel driveway at the front of a red brick house.

Groundworks

Excavation, drainage runs, sub bases, footings and setting out.

Excavated ground alongside a house, photographed from the cab of a tracked excavator.

Anyone can lay the last inch

What is under a patio

A patio is four layers and you only ever see one of them. This is the order they go in. More on the patios page.

A finished patio in grey riven porcelain running up to a timber sleeper retaining edge and new turf.

The only layer you will ever see, and the one that gets judged.

The layer the slab actually sits on. It sets the level of every slab in the patio.

Crushed stone, compacted. This is the layer that carries the load, and the one that decides whether a patio is still flat in the second winter.

The ground that was already there, once the soft stuff has been dug out and carted off.

If a quote comes in a lot cheaper than the rest, ask what depth they are digging to.

One job, all the way down

The same address, in the order it happened. Three of the five frames.

Churned ground and tyre ruts running the length of a house, with a wheelbarrow and an open manhole.
1 The ground as we found it.
The same ground set out in orange marker spray, with a drainage chamber and a gully sitting in the dug earth.
2 Set out, and the drainage in.
The terrace area filled with compacted stone, gullies set flush, the excavator parked at the far end.
3 Sub base in and compacted, gullies set to level.

See all five, from the churned ground to the turf

The bit you never see from the pavement

What is under a roof

A tiled roof is four layers as well, and the tile is only the first of them. What a re-roof actually is.

A finished roof in new concrete interlocking tile, running up to a stone chimney, photographed from the scaffold.

The covering. It sheds most of the water, and it is the only part anyone ever photographs.

The timber the tiles hang on. Its spacing sets how far each tile laps the one below it.

The second line under the battens. Anything that gets past the tiles runs down this and out at the eaves.

The structure the whole roof hangs off, and the reason a roof has to be stripped rather than covered over.

Ask to see the battens and the underlay before the tiles go back on. Any roofer worth ringing will be pleased you asked.

Recent jobs

Where we have a photograph of the same thing before we touched it, it is tipped into the corner. See all 72 photographs.

A gable and dormer re-covered in new concrete interlocking tile under a blue sky.
The same gable and dormer before the work, covered in old mossy pantiles.
Before.

A re-roof

Old pantiles stripped off and replaced with concrete interlocking tile, dormer and valley included.

A finished gravel driveway with charcoal block paved edging, running up to a red and a white garage door.
The same frontage before the work, with worn tarmac and a patchy grass verge.
Before.

A driveway

Worn tarmac lifted out and replaced with gravel over a block paved edge, with a new fence line beside it.

A finished garden: riven porcelain paving, a timber sleeper retaining edge and freshly laid striped turf.
The same garden from the same spot before the work, with cracked concrete and a tired lawn.
Before.

A garden

Cracked concrete taken out, riven porcelain and a sleeper edge in, and the lawn turfed.

Finished brick steps and a raked brick cheek wall at a front door, with a galvanised handrail either side.
The same doorstep with the ground open, bricks stacked ready and the handrail fittings on the floor.
The ground open.

A doorstep

New brick steps, a raked cheek wall and a galvanised handrail, with the ground opened up first.

Get a price

Tell us what the job is and roughly where it is. We will come and look at it.

We use what you send here to quote your job and nothing else. How we handle it.

A large finished porcelain patio behind a house extension, with a timber fence around it.
  1. Send the form, or ring us.
  2. We come and look at the job.
  3. You get a free written quote.

0800 193 4212Freephone07925 068877Mobile aceandsonss@gmail.com

Orpington, Kent, and the area around it.

Where we work

Roofing, guttering, roof repairs, driveways, patios, groundworks and fencing in these towns and the area around them.

  • Orpington where we are based
  • Sevenoaks
  • Biggin Hill
  • Brasted
  • Westerham
  • Oxted
  • Knockholt

If you are close enough for us to come and look at it, ring and ask. 0800 193 4212 or 07925 068877

or mobile 07925 068877 Call 0800 193 4212 Get a price