Indian stone bonding issue?

[Garyedds]

Hi, new to the forum and would appreciate any help or advise. I've read different post and topics over the last few weeks for my diy patio. I laid a large part of the patio yesterday and noticed this morning there are a few loose flags. It seems they haven't bonded to the mix. I'm fairly certain I could just lift the flags off the bed. I this a problem? Obviously I would of preferred them to be fully bedded down. I haven't pointed them up yet so will this help keep them solid or will it be a waste of time? The reason I ask if it's a problem is because I've read some people just lay there flags on a sand bed which would obviously not bond nor would a screed so I'm a little confused. I used a fairly dry mix of 6-1 sharp sand. I didn't use any sbr as I read from a few posts not everyone bothers with it. I wet the back of each flag first before laying to clean them off but also so the dry flag didn't suck all the moisture out of the mix. Thanks for any help or advise.

[lutonlagerlout]

hmmm
if you dont use SBR as a bond bridge then you almost certainly need to use it in the mix which needs to be wet to adhere
the good news is as long as you do not have rockers your patio should be ok
best not to be tempted to start trying to lift them as they will almost certainly come up
but if the bed is solid the pointing should stop any lateral movement
LLL

[vanho]

Hi Gary,

Same here on my DIY job. 1:6 middlish wet/dry. Used the trough method due to inexperience.
Had to lift one slight hollow rocker and was then tempted to lift the next one...hmm... of course I could prise them all if I wanted (it's tempting in anger!) but they are solid. Mostly they are stuck just enough and are going nowhere.

I also shortcut on the bond bridge/ addmix and now regret it. I have now read a lot of this great site and would never have left this out with this product.

Am now faced with the question of whether to chip back the bedding mortar on those lifted and risk loosening the next ones or relay the lot and raise the who thing by 50mm (which would be acceptable and I can't face breaking back the whole patio of mortar).

In actual fact I am tempted to do the wrong thing and remove some of the mortar on the 6 lifted slabs and 'glue' back with a strong SBR cement mix. Then point and run.

LLL, Forum, how bad is that idea?!

Gary, good luck, but in your case I'd probably leave 'em, keep dry and and point quick

TVH

[Tony McC]

See the FAQ - How can loose or wobbly flagstones be fixed?

[lutonlagerlout]

you could try it vanho,but like all things its better done right the first time mate
LLL

[vanho]

Thanks for replies Tony/ LLL

Apologies had missed that FAQ. Full bed replacement of loose flags it is then.