What is acceptable quality with wet cast slabs?

Mixer · Post: # 104834Post **Mixer** Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:47 pm

Hi, new member with a rant.

I ordered a patio setfrom a supplier and the quality of what he sent was poor. It may have been made in his words 'A1', but the handling and stacking had left chips and marks all over the faces and edges. I rejected them and he came down with another lot that were just as bad. I rejected them too at which point his unprofessional attitude just got worse. I got a refund eventually and went to a more local supplier and ordered my slabs there having been happy with what I saw.

When they arrived, they were awful. Chipped, stained, some worn away to the ballast or whatever they use and mostly full of various sized holes from bubbles. Why are they so different to what I saw, I asked. Apparently, they are not.

I complained, eventually they sent a few replacements, which in no way replaced the nunber of duff slabs.

I have no more time to waste and need to get on with the job, so I am forced to accept poor quality products as it appears to be quite the norm.

Is sh1t quality the norm for these sort of slabs? Am I being too fussy? (I'm not by the way.)

rab1 · Post: # 104835Post **rab1** Tue Jul 07, 2015 6:27 pm

Do you have a picture ?

Mixer · Post: # 104840Post **Mixer** Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:10 am

Been trying to upload pix from photobucket but keep being told I've done it wrong. ???

Mixer · Post: # 104845Post **Mixer** Wed Jul 08, 2015 4:08 pm

Prior to laying, overnight rain has removed a lot of the buff colouring from the slabs exposing the aggregate, so I contacted the supplier and sent him pix.
He says the slabs cannot be brushed and when I explained that it was rain not brushing, he said that they cannot be cleaned. WTF. :O

I have rejected them, but he doesn't seem to be getting the message and wants to replace the 'faulty' ones with more of the same. I explained that it was all of them and I'm not interested in crap slabs that can't be cleaned, but he doesn't seem to understand that.

Section 75 time.

Wed Jul 08, 2015 6:31 pm

generally the good quality wet cast I.E stonemarket millstone do not suffer from this
but they come in at around Â£50 a metre
what breed are yours?
LLL

Mixer · Post: # 104850Post **Mixer** Wed Jul 08, 2015 7:18 pm

Don't know what breed they are, mongrel I'd say. A 2.56m Aztec circle is Â£190, compared to the Bowland Stone version of exactly the same circle at Â£280. I've looked at the Bowland version and the colouring seems to quite happy to stay on the slabs. Can't stretch to paying another Â£100, plus delivery, just to get what I was promised in the beginning.

At the moment, my credit card is dealing with it, so it's up to the supplier to sort himself out now.

I'm left with 3 wasted days off work, a mixer hire for nothing and still no patio.

Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:09 am

Lesson there buy cheap pay twice

Mixer · Post: # 104860Post **Mixer** Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:36 am

They weren't that cheap, about Â£40 p/sqm, you can buy the 'same' on ebay for cheaper, which is why I didn't.

How hard can it be to chuck some slop into a mould and turn it out properly? Particularly if the company website mentions the 'master craftsmen' that make them.

If I want to buy decent quality decorative slabs in a circle design, what should I go for? Is Bowland Stone the best quality in this market?

Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:34 pm

We've had plenty of Bowland via warr brothers for commercial developments and never had a problem with them I'd say 800-1000m2 over last 10 years

Mixer · Post: # 104865Post **Mixer** Thu Jul 09, 2015 7:23 pm

Bowland it is then...just got to save/justify a few more pennies. Hmm, how about decking instead? :;):

On a side note, why am I not getting email notification of replies, do you know?

Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:25 pm

this forum doesnt work like that mixer

as said yours were not cheap but bigger names generally have better back up

LLL

Mixer · Post: # 104906Post **Mixer** Fri Jul 10, 2015 7:52 pm

I'm sure I set up my account to let me follow a topic?

Anyhoo, just having good quality would be nice, then I wouldn't need good back up.

I was pointed towards EasyPave, are they a decent outfit?
Been going for 20 years apparently. Not Bowland Stone of course, but less of a stretch on my finances for this part of the project. Their website and most reviews seem to project a good image.

lemoncurd1702 · Sat Jul 11, 2015 11:54 am

Personally I would avoid wetcast fullstop. Regardless of quality the aggregate will be exposed eventually unless they are religiously sealed bi-annually at the least.

There are some decent pressed concrete products depending on your budget which would be my preference.
Marshalls have the Regent paving which gives a riven effect with random sizes or the more contemporary Saxon paving. Bradstone and Brett have similar ranges.

Why in this day and age though, go for a concrete product when there is so much reasonably priced natural paving around.

Mixer · Post: # 104921Post **Mixer** Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:02 pm

Until I bought this crappy quality circle, I didn't know there was a difference - a slab was a slab.

If I can get a Sun design circle in pressed form rather than wet cast, then I'd love to. I just haven't found one or if I have, I didn't know it was pressed.

How do I tell the difference, the Marshalls site for example doesn't mention the method of production?

lemoncurd1702 · Sat Jul 11, 2015 9:32 pm

The wet cast have a smoother, slippery looking finish. The pressed are like the council type slabs, more uniform in size and thickness.

Don't know of any pressed sunrise there are some alternative designs in natural sandstone such as Bradstones spinning circle. Likely to be big bucks though.

Maybe find a different supplier and inspect the circle prior to delivery. A few minor chips on the edges are acceptable/inevitable with wet cast and won't show up once grouted.