Help/advice needed - Pointing

[hotspot]

Ive just finished pointing my patio project, after waiting weeks for dry weather!!!!
I used the dry pointing method.....I mixed 3:1 building sand/cement without adding any water at all and spread over the patio (i mixed in a cement mixer for about 15mins so it was well mixed)...after all the joints were full i packed down the sand/cement and brushed over again.....when it was all finished I used a fine spray a wetted the whole patio and left it alone!
Heres my problem.....ive checked today (24hrs after completion) and it is still very soft...the joints are not setting at all......................when i was brushing the sand/cement mix in i could see the sand drying out (almost like a dust) is this normal, obviously the sand would have had moisture in it and then it was drying out as it lay on top of the patio.
Will the joints take longer to go off...or has somthing gone wrong here......help!!!!! ???

[bobhughes]

You may find this helpfull

[hotspot]

thanks for the reply
I have already read the artical you have left...I presume you mean the bit about "catch up pointing"....( In heinsight I should have used a semi-dry mix-but was worried about staining the sandstone flags!)
The problem im seeing isnt the joints are to dry...in fact the joints are still moist after 24hrs of watering them! the problem is they feel as though there are just sand...they dont feel like there going off at all. I know the mix was good so it isnt that. What im thinking is- because the sand was moist (no water added just its natural moisture) this started the cement process off whilst mixing, and then with me brushing it in on the dry patio it has then "go off"--or dry up before it has had chance to form a mass, so now all the cement has gone leaving me with my problem.
What should be my next course of action????
Should i water the patio again?
should I leave it a few days to see what happens?
What will happen if I just leave it....ie if it was just sand in the joint.

please please any advice will put me in the right direction.....its my first ever patio and honestly my last!!! :p
thanks
Pete

[Stuarty]

Sounds like the cement is washed out of the mix. Personally id claw out the pointing thats there atm, and redo with a semidry mix Its all about learning from your mistakes.

[hotspot]

no...no...please......my back!!!!!!! :laugh:
what will happen if I just leave it...like sand or semi hard sand????
My sandstone flags have been laid on a ful bed of sand/cement?

Clutching at straws here cant you tell!!!!LOL
cheers again all
pete

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

Hi, I'm not trying to be cleverer than everybody else - I've just done quite a few patios, so for what its worth- you can do no harm by waiting as much as a month, if the grout is still soft then you get out your scraper/chisel/screwdriver and scrape it all out - the full width and at least 2 inches deep - and then you revert to the only proper way - just damp enough to trowel in, and work slowly and carefully as described in the link. Having said that, in a months time the existing grout will have gotten as hard as its going to, which might just be hard enough for you to accept. I think tho you will always be left with a grainy finish to the grout which is not the prettiest. Obviously the sooner you dig the existing grout out the softer it is, and that is worth considering.
LOL - Billy Carter-Smith

[lutonlagerlout]

just wait till the dandelions start growing through your pointing,it wont be long
really the brush in dry technique has been long discredited, and its time to do it properly.
do it,you know it makes sense
regards LLL

[hotspot]

okie dokie,
ill get my screwdriver out on friday.....trouble is then waiting for a fine day to re-point......just waited ages for the nice weather and when it has come, ive balls it up LOL
just another question......is the wet slurry pointing any good???is it easy...........see the same straws are out again......im useless i know!!!
cheers everyone
pete
ps.....i like dandilions

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

Gud Lawd Bruvva, screwdrivah, neepads, a bukkit en sum kurrige, lissen to da radyo and orf ugo - looks like rain friday
VCC