Bradstone sandstone

[scotty78]

Hi was at a builders merchants today who have 100 crates of bradstone smooth natural sandstone in fine textured buff.

This is the sawn and honed range apparently bradstone's premium sandstone, anyway because they have so much stock there selling them at a very reasonable price.

Initially I had been planning on buying sawn mint sandstone and then reading about how porous it is and possibly buying seconds unseen over the internet I changed my mind. Has anyone used bradstone's sandstone? it looked great but thought I would ask advice here.

Reading the bradstone book and other websites they talk of sealing honed stone before you put it down, is this required? I have read the advice here about how sandstone has been used for hundreds of years unsealed so just want to check what I should do.

If I do have to seal it I would be doing so after laying with an impregnator.

On applying sbr do I just paint that on the back prior to fitting?

The merchant has discontinued geofix and was offering me tubs for £20, had a quick read on the forum I am guessing geofix is best avoided? they have replaced it with easy joint.

Sorry for all the questions but want to pull the trigger and get my stuff ordered. It's a straight choice between natural paving classic stone riven or very slightly more expensive bradstone sawn and honed.

Thanks

[Tom - Westminster Stone]

If you do choose a bradstone product, make sure you enter their prize draw to win a pickup truck! https://www.bradstone.com/garden-....etition

You've already obviously done some reading on here about sealing and pointing, personally I would go by the suppliers reccomendation, just so that if there is any come backs you have followed everything they have advised.

Pointing compounds are something i've recently asked about myself, many people seem to have used various different one claiming no issues, I don't have a great deal of experience with many of them except geofix which we didn't like the quality of and VDW NCC GFTK 850 which was reccomended from this site as one of 2 of the very best pointing compounds available, and in all fainess we tested a couple of them on our displays 2 years ago which still look great and are solid as anything (the 2 part epoxy resin really does make a huge difference to the hardness!)

[Tony McC]

Bradstone is a premium brand, so you know it's quality stone, but the huge surge in interest for honed stone over the last 2-3 years is turning into a nightmare for all sorts of reasons, but many of them track back to the fact that, when choosing a stone to hone, the manufacturers out in India often go for a softer rock type as it's easier, therefore cheaper, to grind down to a smooth surface.

As reluctant as I am to use sealants on stone, I do think there can be a case for it with some honed sandstones, and, given it's tendency to stain or mark with unsettling ease, I'd pre-seal the top surface, and I'd definitely prime the underside with a bond bridge.

When it comes to jointing, if you stay away from GeoFix and one or two others in the 1-part range, you should be fine. And as Tom says, it's hard to fault a good 2-part product.

Incidentally, if you win the Bradstone truck, you're obliged to give me your existing vehicle :~)

[scotty78]

Thanks for the replies, yeah I think I would be daft not to go for the bradstone especially at the price. I wondered if textured buff has maybe been discontinued as they have a crazy stock for an independent BM. Still showing on bradstone's site though and it certainly didn't look like seconds when I opened one of the crates for a look.

I can just seal with lithofin or similar straight before I put them down? Not looking for a sealer recommendation as I read what happened to you the last time, shocking stuff! trying to help people and it bites you on the arse.

I got a landscaper round the other night asked for a price, asked about using sbr, about how I was about to dig most the old hardcore away that was under my council greys and bring in my type 1 (was just looking for a laying price). Was told I don't use sbr if I get rockers I come back and put tile adhesive, you don't need type 1 (granted the sub base looks ok ish) the levels need to come down though even I could see that, needless to say I am 100% doing it myself.

You have a deal if I win the truck you can have my Ferrari

[rks]

hello Scotty may i ask which merchant and where they are offering these paving please as im also thinking of buying same type .
thanks

[scotty78]

Sure South Lanarkshire building supplies in Larkhall. Not sure if your in Scotland though

[lutonlagerlout]

the problem with presealing is making sure the stone is fairly dry first
we use londonstone because they have a drying container which drys the stone and then they seal it with dry treat which is the leading impregnating sealant
so we get it and lay it ,and job done
its not cheap
but what is great is the fast that you cannot balls up the sealing
IME the lighter coloured honed sandstones tend to get dirty very easily ===> if you have pets or small children this is something to keep in mind
LLL

[scotty78]

Thanks for the reply, I will check out London stone's sealer. I am actually undecided about the honed stone, yeah I love the look of it but the sealing/maintenance seems quite a lot more hassle. Think I will be sticking with bradstone one of the merchants I have an account with offered me a deal on buff multi that they have had sitting a few months so will have a look again at the honed and the riven buff multi and take it from there. Londonstone paving does look top class but I will be moving in the next couple of years so trying to do my best to keep to a reasonable budget as not going to be adding to much value to my house.

I look into things to much, at the start i was going with ebay £10m2, then read about it probably being seconds, not ce certified, I'm now up to bradstone by next week or 2 when I'm laying them it will be marhsalls fairstone :laugh:

[Tony McC]

the problem with presealing is making sure the stone is fairly dry first

There's also an issue with dust on *some* honed/polished/textured flagstones.

Some of the processors in India just run it through the mill (literally) and then pack it into a crate, along with all the process dust which clings to the surface like the proverbial to a blanket.

I've looked at maybe half-a-dozen jobs over the last 18 months where sealing was carried out pre- or post-installation, and it's had the effect of highlighting the trapped dust which was barely evident beforehand.

If there's any doubt, I'd have the flags pressure washed or thoroughly cleaned with grime-removing detergent, and then get them bone dry before sealing.

I've still not figured out whether I prefer pre- or post installation sealing in general, but with the honed/polished stuff, I think I'm edging towards pre

[scotty78]

Thanks for the replies. Rks I wouldn't bother with the honed that I mentioned on this thread unless your able to go and have a look at it yourself. I went up today opened a crate for a look, rather than just looking at the few that were lying out. I could see saw marks and lines, it wasn't the worst but was enough for me to go elsewhere and buy the riven bradstone. When I went up last week there were 100 crates, today only around 40 so I assume some other merchant in the country has snapped them up, so just be aware if some internet ebay merchant starts offering it. At £25.50 inc vat I would guess the marks are why they have been priced so cheap. That said I have never seen another brand of smooth/honed other than marshalls but I feel it's priced that way for that reason.

[lutonlagerlout]

generally ,you gets what you pay for

we are laying harvest sawn sandstone presealed this week which I like a lot,but next week it will be Jura beige Limestone from london stone pre-sealed
these are top end products but are a joy to behold and work with
if I ever get photobucket to work again I will post some pictures
LLL

[jtatkinson]

Im looking to seal my bradstone also, can I add a dye/tint to the impregnator you mentioned Tom?

Jeff

[Tony McC]

I wouldn;t have thought so, unless you have access to a resin-soluble dye and can predict how it will affect the finished look.

[London Stone Paving]

Pre-sealing is the way forward. As LLL says, it arrives on site and its ready to lay with no messing around or downtime.

We used to have the issue where stone would come to us covered in sediment. Our suppliers clean the stone before they pack it now, so in most cases we can unpack and seal the stone without additional cleaning. It took us about 2 years of "nagging" to get our foreign suppliers to consistently clean the stone

Steve