Hi, I am having a patio laid, and work has now stopped for the weekend. Initially I thought it was fine, but on closer inspection I have a few concerns. I'd appreciate some advice so I know what to say to the contractor.
My concerns are as follows:
1) I think at least some of the patio is draining towards the house.
2) the joints are uneven. I understand that with different sizes it is difficult to get perfectly even joints, but some run off - i.e. the joint gets narrower along its length.
3) some of the stones are sitting as much as 5mm higher than the one next to them. It's riven sandstone, but is this excessive?
I've uploaded some pictures here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OSlDVzboLNlR2Yo3pl49OXwPMcnj_X97
Thanks,
Neil
Indian sandstone patio - should i be concerned?
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lemoncurd1702
- Posts: 712
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- Location: South Wales
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The quality of riven sandstone varies quite significantly and the main issues besides the surface profiles are the size tolerances where one slab maybe 595mm and the next 605mm, so quite difficult to work with. Myself, I trim the edges of the slabs with a disc cutter to form a neat joint. This is done after the paving is laid and the mortar has set. Maybe he will do this on Monday if not pull him up on it.
Cheers
Lemoncurd
Lemoncurd
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Neil-mc
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat May 19, 2012 7:52 pm
- Location: Glasgow
Thanks for replying. I'll have a chance to discuss it with them tomorrow before they do any more work, and will ask about the joints. When I spoke to him he said that some of the water will drain towards the house to avoid puddling, but that will drain into the decorative gravel (about 15cm width) between the house and slabs. Does that sound ok? They haven't installed a drain of any sort. It's a new build house, if that makes a difference in terms of dpc.
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matt_north
- Posts: 22
- Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 9:12 am
- Location: Sheffield
Hi
A few of the joints look excessive but like lemoncurd says it's difficult with that type but then don't you want the non-symmetrical look? Hence the riven stone. It will look better when the joints are filled.
My real concern would be the fact he admits some water will drain towards the house. There's no excuse for this he should have worked out his drainage before he started! I laid a patio that couldn't drain to three sides and 75% of the fourth side but i still got the water to drain to the 25% of the one side still available.
A few of the joints look excessive but like lemoncurd says it's difficult with that type but then don't you want the non-symmetrical look? Hence the riven stone. It will look better when the joints are filled.
My real concern would be the fact he admits some water will drain towards the house. There's no excuse for this he should have worked out his drainage before he started! I laid a patio that couldn't drain to three sides and 75% of the fourth side but i still got the water to drain to the 25% of the one side still available.