Rain on freshly laid patio - Rain on freshly laid patio

[RickZ]

Hi I'm new to this forum, I have photo's but don't know how to upload them. I have a landscaper laying a 60sq meter sandstone patio he's not covering it over night then last night we had an almighty down poor aprox 3 hrs after the last set of stones were laid on fresh mortar which is up to 6 inches deep in places. This morning there's evidence of cement being washed out of mortar leaving sand, in some areas areas the mortar is still as wet or wetter than when it was laid yesterday. I can see where mortar has been washed away at joints and bare sand in places. I'm worried that this will have weakened the mortar bed the stone is laid on and the pointing won't adhere to the bedding mortar due to the sand left behind by the rain. I've sent photo's to the landscaper who's response was, don't worry it will be fine, it doesn't look fine to me, but I'm no expert on this type of thing and only have his opinion to go on. I can't help but think this isn't right and the life of the patio will have been greatly reduced. Wish I could upload the photo's to make things clearer. Advise on this situation would be greatly appreciated, I fear being left with a weakened patio because I don't have the knowledge to question the Landscaper.

[rab1]

Read the main site that has loads of information but your right and 6" of mortar is way wrong..

[seanandruby]

Why 6 inches, if he needed to raise the levels why not a sub base ??? Sounds like the pointing was to weak and dry. As Rab suggests
read the index, loads of info' to arm you with.

[RickZ]

I came to the forum after using the website search engine looking for sandstone and rain which seems to brings up very little. I hoped for guidance from people far more knowledgable than myself before the landscaper returns to continue the job the day after tomorrow(Monday).

My garden slopes, the 6in of mortar bed at the deepest is on top of 6in of compacted hard core, is there a point at which hardcore is to deep to compact properly therefore a deeper mortar bed gives greater stability. The stone laying is still in progress, no pointing done at the moment. I don't know why they didn't lay more hard core, in a situation like this without the knowlege one assumes they know what they are doing. Is there an issue with a 6in mortar bed if the slabs are tapped down and levelled properly.

My question was mainly around the affects of the rain, the landscaper said it will be fine. Now if he wanted to talk about electrical systems on North Sea platforms I'd happily oblige without help, unfortunately he doesn't and I'm no landscaper and therefore hoped to acquire ammunition before his return.

[lutonlagerlout]

TBH rain is not the worst
full bed is paramount
LLL

[seanandruby]

My garden slopes, the 6in of mortar bed at the deepest is on top of 6in of compacted hard core, is there a point at which hardcore is to deep to compact properly therefore a deeper mortar bed gives greater stability. The stone laying is still in progress, no pointing done at the moment. I don't know why they didn't lay more hard core, in a situation like this without the knowlege one assumes they know what they are doing. Is there an issue with a 6in mortar bed if the slabs are tapped down and levelled properly.

My question was mainly around the affects of the rain, the landscaper said it will be fine. Now if he wanted to talk about electrical systems on North Sea platforms I'd happily oblige without help, unfortunately he doesn't and I'm no landscaper and therefore hoped to acquire ammunition before his return.

Capping layers, hardcore, dtp1 aka sub base is never to deep to compact properly. You compact in layers of 75ml to refusal. Done properly it is bombproof. Heavy rain on freshly laid bedding will turn it to liquid and will result in an unstable pavement. Your man should of read the weather forecast and covered the job with visqueen. Lads on here give help in their free time ( which is limited as most work for a living ) there is also so much information on the main index for you to read. It is always advisable to read up and also ask for help before jumping in feet first.

[RickZ]

Many thanks for the input, apologies for asking a question as a consequence of not finding all the answers on the website and finding plenty of references to British Standards I have no access to. I'm surprised at the amount of effort that goes into typing instructions to use the Index when in fact typing an answer to a post would be equally as onerous and more helpful. There may be a reason why so many people ask questions on the forum without trying to find the answer, the size of the index suggests information overload. I've read pages and pages of info but don't have the answers. Once again many thanks.

[seanandruby]

Buy Tony's book :;):

[RickZ]

[Tony McC]

....plenty of references to British Standards I have no access to......the size of the index suggests information overload......

All reference to British Standards in the text of the main website are for further information, infoormation that is technical but not necessary to understanding the principles involved. The references are provided for those that require the actual wording of the BS. All the basic concepts that underpin the various BS's are fully explained in the text on the main website. You must not have read the information correctly....that's not information overload: it's an inability to comprehend.