The main thing to focus on when hard landscaping is to correctly prepare the sub base. To achieve this we excavate a minimum of 300mm below the finished paving level. The build up should then include 150mm sub-base, topped with 50mm of sand. Finally, a 50mm space should be left to accommodate for the chosen paving; this will alter depending on the thickness of the blocks or flags. There should be a slight slope in the finished paved area to ensure that surface water runs away to avoid puddling.