Hi can anyone give me some advice on what to do next, as I have never lay a patio before and Im not too confident in starting.
My problems started back in May when (unknown to me!) i hired the local cowboy to install my 35m2 patio of indian sandstone. After 3 months of him trying to lay them I politley asked him to leave (and after blocking my traps with cement,breaking my hose gun and hiding it in my hanging basket,trying to spot bed the project with "4" dabs whilst we were on holiday and much much more ).
So heres my dilema. He removed the flags and left everything else.
I have removed all the mortar bombs left lying around and also got up all the "so called grit sand" he left to which now Im down to the 30mm or so of stone he put down.The grit sand is sort of blacky colour not like sand at all----is this ok?? Should I use this??
My plan was to compact the stone again and then lay the indian flagstones on a full bed of mortar which would be about 50mm thick (made of 2 parts grit sand/2parts soft sand and 1 part portland cement).Starting with my border of tegulas to act as a frame, and then lay the falgs inside this.
Am I talking out of my a**e here,will this be ok to do??? I know the advice is to lay on drymix of 10:1 but I really dont fancy doing it that way as it seems it will be alot easier to lay level on mortar.???? Also since coming back from holiday it has rained every day....can you lay flags whilst it is raining either on a full bed of mortar or on a 10:1 mix...????
Or even better is there anyone out there in manchester,who wants to come and do it for me......cowboys need not apply
Last but not least.....please be gentle
The first time I laid flags, I laid them on a full bed of mortar (not "dot and dab"), thinking it would be easier and better than a dry mix; it is not. Getting the flags level is not really any easier and you have the additional hastle of having to knock up a wet mix. I guess if you have a labourer to knock up the gear for you, you could do it this way.
Another disadvantage is that if you need to move the slabs as the gaps between them don't quite look right to the eye, this is not really possible if they are laid on to a wet mix. If they are just lying on a dry-mix you can do a bit of final alignment to get the job perfect. I was sceptical of how strong a dry-mix bed would be when I first did it, but it is strong and the flags won't move if you do it properly.
Flags can sometimes rock after being laid on a full mortar bed as the mortar dries and contracts very slightly meaning not total contact with the underside of the flag. this is quite rare but can happen
Thanks for the replys:
with regard to laying in the rain......does it mean dont lay whilst it is raining or dont bother laying if its going to rain within 24hrs????
cheers
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