Slippery pavers - Efflorescence

[jerry1]

We had 150 new, smooth paving slabs (600x600x40) laid last winter. These were laid on a bed of MOT and sharp sand with dry cement lightly sprinkled over the top of the sand. Within a matter of weeks, the pavers became badly stained and over time they have become pitted. Even after a long spell of dry sunny weather, most pavers still look as though they are retaining water. The installer and manufacturer insist the issue is efflorescence and that it may or may not sort itself out. Our problem is that the surface of the pavers is slippery. This has caused one fall and several near misses both in dry and wet weather. Following light rain we even saw a frog jump onto one slab and slide all the way down, only stopping when it reached the join. How can I make the paths safe? They continue to look a mess but that's much less of a concern than the safety issue.

Also, when a shoe is rubbed over the surface, it leaves very noticeable scratch marks which look as though the paver is wearing away. Could the diagnosis of efflorescence be incorrect and we actually have a problem with the pavers? They were chosen by the installation contractor as the nearest match to some existing slabs and safety wasn't discussed. We never thought that they would provide something which would be unsafe to use - most of the paths are on a slope. The old pavers are completely safe to walk on with no chalkiness or pitting to the surface.

[higgness]

Pictures.
Name of the slabs.

[jerry1]

The buff coloured slabs were made by Wyresdale and in their brochure they call it 'smooth paving (ideal for pathways)'.

[lutonlagerlout]

jerry sad to say that picking a smooth slab for a slope is probably not the best idea
that issue is between you and your contractor whose technique is poor

the slabs you mention are at the budget end of the market and other than lay them correctly i cannot see what else could be done

sorry LLL

[jerry1]

Thanks, the pavers that they were matching up to were much better quality. I naively thought the new ones would be as good. An expensive lesson learnt.

I'm trying to add photos but haven't done this before and am struggling as I'm not familiar with the technology.

This link may enable you to access 3 photos of the slabs: -
http://s1370.photobucket.com/user/2Jerry/slideshow/

[lutonlagerlout]

it looks like water is coming up between the joints
also butt jointing is not a great idea

correctly the slabs should have been laid on a mix knocked up in a cement mixer of around 6:1

as i alluded to they are budget slabs,and this sort of thing is fairly common at that end

if you need grip you could replace with bar faced slabs but they are fairly expensive and utilitarian looking

sorry no good news from me

LLL