Southport pavers - Advice please

[rautospoon]

I sourced some original Southport Pavers (mostly indigo with a few "reds") earlier this year, that my contractor will be laying as a small pathway around a shed later this month.

A couple of queries:

1. They will be laid on a full mortar bed - is a bond bridge slurry primer required ?

2. Would Easy Joint "in" basalt be a good choice for pointing them ?

Many thanks.

[lutonlagerlout]

depends how wet the bedding mortar is but as pavers are generally laid on a dryish bedding it wont hurt.
easyjoint is ok but a better choice would be gftk 815 or gftk 850 if the joints are bigger
LLL

[Tony McC]

Those pavers, and I've laid thousands of metres of them throughout Southport, are best laid on a semi-dry cement-bound bed of roughly 6:1 based on a grit sand.

All the work we did in the 80s and 90s was buttered and pointed with a black-coloured lime mortar, and it has, largely, fared well, especially on the lesser trafficked areas such as Westbourne Rd., Suffolk Rd., Preston Rd., etc.

Due to the tolerances of the pavers, you need 10-12mm joints, so I'd be looking for a jointing medium with strong adhesion and resistance to scour, so a proper 2-part resin mortar or a good cement/lime mortar would be my preference.

[rautospoon]

depends how wet the bedding mortar is but as pavers are generally laid on a dryish bedding it wont hurt.
easyjoint is ok but a better choice would be gftk 815 or gftk 850 if the joints are bigger
LLL

Thanks LLL. Joints will be 10-12 mm.

What do you consider to be the best single part polymeric as the GFTk products are pretty expensive and I only have about 6 sq m (of 225mm x 225mm pavers) to point ?

[rautospoon]

Those pavers, and I've laid thousands of metres of them throughout Southport, are best laid on a semi-dry cement-bound bed of roughly 6:1 based on a grit sand.

All the work we did in the 80s and 90s was buttered and pointed with a black-coloured lime mortar, and it has, largely, fared well, especially on the lesser trafficked areas such as Westbourne Rd., Suffolk Rd., Preston Rd., etc.

Due to the tolerances of the pavers, you need 10-12mm joints, so I'd be looking for a jointing medium with strong adhesion and resistance to scour, so a proper 2-part resin mortar or a good cement/lime mortar would be my preference.

Thanks Tony. I agree they still look great in the streets of Southport.
Do you think there is any need for a "belt and braces job" in using SBR ?
Bit expensive the "2-parts" for my measly 6sq. m - any recommendation for single polymeric ?

[lutonlagerlout]

Rauto if you want it to last for 6 m2 I would suck it up and use 25kg of gftk 850
around £90

alternatively point by hand but do not attempt to add dyes as they will fade

Polymerics vary I have used weatherpoint 365 with some success on paving , but that will set you back around £45-50 a tub,I hear good things about easijoint,but IME even the best polymerics are only good for around 6-10 years depending on traffic and other variables

cheers LLL

[rautospoon]

Rauto if you want it to last for 6 m2 I would suck it up and use 25kg of gftk 850
around £90

alternatively point by hand but do not attempt to add dyes as they will fade

Polymerics vary I have used weatherpoint 365 with some success on paving , but that will set you back around £45-50 a tub,I hear good things about easijoint,but IME even the best polymerics are only good for around 6-10 years depending on traffic and other variables

cheers LLL

Thanks again for a comprehensive response. All good "food for thought" !

Just out of interest do you have any experience of knowledge of VDW 840 PLUS which is GFTK's version of a single component ?

[rautospoon]

GFTK
Prices for 25kg [to include VAT and (£16 !) delivery] from NCC Streetscape (Kebur do not seem to stock Basalt):

VDW 840+ : £97.84
VDW 850+ : £120.23

[lutonlagerlout]

its expensive but great gear
we are VAT registered so VAT is not important to us!
its a question of time and durability
2 part resin mortars are there for keeps

LLL

[Tony McC]

840+ is another very good polymeric, but, like all polymerics, it's got a limited lifespan and can't stand up to a pressure washer.

If you collect a tub of, say, 850 from their depot in Chorley, you'll get a keener price.

Still, for just 6m², I'd be tempted to use a 4:1 sand/cement mortar with plenty of black dye.

[rautospoon]

840+ is another very good polymeric, but, like all polymerics, it's got a limited lifespan and can't stand up to a pressure washer.

If you collect a tub of, say, 850 from their depot in Chorley, you'll get a keener price.

Still, for just 6m², I'd be tempted to use a 4:1 sand/cement mortar with plenty of black dye.

Thanks again Tony much appreciated.

Spoke to the depot in Chorley and quoted identical price (other than £16 postage) as "on line".

As this mini-project (using Southport Pavers edged with Victorian Chocolate Block "8's") is a bit of an indulgence, whim, flight of fancy of mine (my wife thinks I'm totally crackers !) I will most likely say "sod it" and "go for" the GFTK VWD 850+ !!

One further query, can "made up" 850 be stored "under water" as per polymerics ?

Cheers.

[lutonlagerlout]

no ,it will be as hard as iron inside a few hours
LLL

[Tony McC]

The reason some polymerics can be stored under water without affecting performance (allegedly) is that they work by having a masking/doping oil evaporate and thereby exposing the resin to air, which initiates curing.

The 2-part resin mortars use an activator or hardener agent - that's one of the parts (the other being the resin binder itself). Once that activator is added, it's an unstoppable process. The curing begins and nothing you do (assuming you don't have access to an inhibitor) will slow it down or stop it.

[rautospoon]

Thanks Tony and LLL.

[jd paving]

hi to all the forum members
I happen to live in southport and have laid plenty of southport pavers and find them a superb product ,
for me point them by hand or with a pointing gun gives you the crisp chiselled look which looks so so much better tham any other method
thanks john