On 2 May, 15:13, "'Mike'" wrote:
Hi Martin

We have this as well and what I have done is to lift the complete paving
slab, cut it in half using a Lump Hammer and Cold Chisel, then replacing the
half slab. This leaves open ground to the tune of half a slab for planting
and watering.

If you have two places to do, then one slab cut in half will serve both
places and you have a slab spare :-))

Cutting a slab in two is not as frightening as it sounds and I am more than
willing to give advice as it's a case of 'been there, done that .... etc etc
etc '

Thanks for the advice Mike and Boypete. An angle grinder attack was my
original plan, but then uk.diy persuaded me that using a core cutter
would be better! The advantage I can see of the core cutter is (a)
that a nice round hole would be kind of neat, (b) because my patio is
small I can't afford to lose too many of the slabs themselves, and (c)
that I think I have a pretty hefty and thick sub-base of aggregate
under the paving (the guys who laid it didn't cut corners) which the
core cutter could go through down to the soil relatively quickly (I've
got four of these to do).

Did you have much trouble with getting through the base beneath your
slabs doing it your way? Or actually getting the slab up the way you
did it Mike? Mine seem to have been laid to survive nuclear blasts.

Cheers!

Martin