Budget indian stone or wecast?

[scotty78]

Hi all

Looking for some advice on choosing between budget Indian stone or wetcast.

Had planned to buy sawn mint or teakwood stone from ebay at £20 m2 but after reading some posts on here about how teak/rainbow/mint are all very soft and seeing some pictures that people have posted showing saw marks etc I think I might need to change my plans.

My local merchant stocks Lakeland indian stone and I am starting to lean towards only buying stone I can see first. Has anyone used Lakeland? is it any good?

Previously the merchant had offered me 2 crates for £580 which is 38 m2. I didn't buy it at the time as he only had kandla grey which is not a colour I liked and it was over the winter so not sure he will still give me that price but I need it over the next couple of weeks. It was hand cut/riven stone calibrated 24mm.

I really liked the look of honed stone but guessing at £15/20 a metre I have no chance of getting anything of quality?

Other options are bradstone textured through trade point at £15 m2, possibly cheaper elsewhere haven't checked yet.

Or local precast place offered me a 6 size wetherdale type slab which is thicker than the bradstone at 38mm for £14 m2.

Any advice on what option would be best would be great.

Second question is on measuring up I need 31.5m2 (tight i need to add for wastage) my plan had been to use solely 900x600 but I am now leaning towards a 4 size patio pack, read somewhere that going with 4 sizes that you times the m2 by 1.1, does that sound about right?

Finally I am putting in some more retaining walls with sleepers tomorrow, as I don't have the slabs yet I want to leave enough space between the sleepers to add a run of slabs, I was under the impression that a 600mm slab was the size including a 10mm allowance for pointing or have I picked up wrong and they just give pointing allowances when your looking at pack sizes. Was thinking of leaving 610mm between the sleeper paths or would I be better leaving a little more, just concerned about leaving to big a space for grouting. The sleepers at that part of the garden are only for a path that will be for one 600mm slab wide.

Any decent indian stone retailers in Glasgow/Falkirk etc?

Thanks

[scotty78]

Ok so scrap all that stuff above, have decided 100% on Indian stone due to longevity. Also got the name wrong my local merchant stocks stone from Natural Paving in Doncaster with Lakeland being one of the colours. The range being classic stone and the price £19m2.

Has anyone used their stuff?

Any recommendations for more budget websites where the stone is CE certified? have seen Nustone mentioned.

As for the depth of the sleeper paths I measured some stone at my merchants today and it was bang on 600, what had thrown me was other day I was in B&Q and I measured some in there which was 610mm wide.

[PavingSuperstore]

We can deliver to you in your area and we offer all the leading brands so you can be sure these are CE marked and fit for purpose in the UK.

In terms of slab size, this is not an exact science as some brands show the size including the pointing gap whereas others give the exact slab size plus the pointing. The pack coverages should be accurate however. Also, bear in mind that hand-cut stone will have tolerances on the dimensions so again, it's best not to prepare anything too close to the mark with the measurements you are using until you have the paving to hand.

The mint sandstone is one of the more porous options and therefore harder to maintain. Teak and rainbow have been discontinued by the leading brands. Harder and therefore easier to care for ranges tend to be raj green, candle, camel and autumn, but these are often known as other names depending on brand. We would be happy to guide you on this if you would like to give us a call.

[scotty78]

Thanks for the reply and I think I will just wait till I have the stone before putting in the sleepers. Will check out your website thanks.

[PavingSuperstore]

We have some of the Natural Paving lakeland priced slightly better than your local merchant - here's a link:https://www.pavingsuperstore.co.uk/natu ... slabs.html. All the stone is CE marked.