Hi, I am a new diyer, I have been working on our patio on and off for the last 4 months or so, it is approx 100m2. I have dug out, laid blinding stone, laid haunched solider course edging and am now filling up the blinding and about to screed sand. Thanks so much for all the info on this site it has been invaluable so far!!
I have become a little unstuck, I am going to use sharp sand to lay our 400mm square flags as I don't have access to a mixer and it would cost a fortune to rent at the pace I intend to work at (hence the edge course to contain everything). I cannot work out the depth that I need to screed to. I am hoping to use 25mm pre-compacted paving sand and a 32mm slab however the screed depth is confusing me. i know that once they are tapped down with the mallet they will go lower but i can't figure out how much extra to leave. I have read all the guides on the site and i know that the answer is probably just to trial and error, but i thought I would see if anyone had a reasonably accurate idea?
Gareth you need to use cement in the mix
especially with 32 mm slabs
buy yourself a cheap second hand mixer on ebay or gumtree
it wont last a year laid on sharp sand alone mate
ideal bed depth for me is around 50mm for flags or slabs
cheers LLL
