Recently laid patio - But don't like the "sealed look"

[Tonestastic]

after much deliberation and prevarication, I have finally had an Indian sandstone patio laid in my garden by a contractor.

Delighted with the initial results, lovely coloured stone, looked great and blended in fantastically with the house brick tones.

The day before yesterday he came back to finish off a few bits and sealed the stone. This has had a number of effects:

- darkened and dulled the colours - my girlfriend really doesn't like it now
- there are white bits here and there - as you know it has been raining for weeks and it was a bit damp when it was sealed I suspect, and then rained very soon after. Mostly small bubble type spots, although there are one are two larger areas (you can see in the photos posted)

Although he advised me sealing would protect the stone (particularly in Winter he said when if the stones are damp and then it freezes, could cause them to crack), I was not made aware it would darken the stone nor that the water wouild take an AGE to evaporate (see first two photos on last line, hours after any rain, then the final three were taken after a whole morning's sun)

I have posted photos here

Question: can it (or should it) be "unsealed" somehow?

[PHDA]

I've just had exactly the same patio laid, raj blend sandstone. I think you need to confirm what sealent the contractor used. I sealed my patio with Lithofin MN Stain Stop Plus and this causes the stones to darken as if they were wet which is the effect I wanted. They also do a product that just seals the stone but doesn't cause the darkening of the stone this is called Lithofin MN Stain Stop. The effect of water sitting on the slabs is exactly what I have and appears to be normal. The product that I used states the slabs must be completely dry and do not allow to get wet for 48hrs. I chose a day where no rain was forcast when i sealed my slabs and guess what it chucked it down a couple of hours later and i suffered from the same white staining, which i beleive was due to some of the sealent washing away. I sealed the patio again and managed to let it dry as per instructions and it seems a lot better. Check with contactor if the sealent he used was also a colour enhancer and if it should of been applied in dry conditions.

[Stuarty]

To be honest im not sure if there is a sealant remover. Ive never sealed a patio, or a drive for that fact so im not 10% sure whats normal with sealants, one of the other lads will know

[lutonlagerlout]

sound like he used lithofin stain stop plus,which is a colour enhancer as well as a sealer
nothing to worry about there it will settle down a bit in a week or so
when i first sealed mine the water formed into globules like that but it doesnt last forever

however the flags seem to be almost flush to your back door,is this intended?

regards LLL

[PHDA]

Lithofin states that once applied it can't be removed. The colour enhancer is stated as only lasting for about a year anyway so by next summer the slabs will look as they did before.

[Tonestastic]

sound like he used lithofin stain stop plus,which is a colour enhancer as well as a sealer
nothing to worry about there it will settle down a bit in a week or so
when i first sealed mine the water formed into globules like that but it doesnt last forever

however the flags seem to be almost flush to your back door,is this intended?

regards LLL

that's not the back door you can see, it's the outhouse, now houses a lawnmower only.

[seanandruby]

the boss, in a thread a while back quite rightly pointed out the dangers of stacking flags on edge , the way you have. not good.

[lutonlagerlout]

very naughty tonestastic,although i think i mentioned at the time i had never had a stack go like that
better to stack 10 flat in the middle and then have the others leaning on them, or leant against a wall
problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

[Dave_L]

problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

CRASH BANG WALLOP Oh dear!



Edited By Dave_L on 1185696669

[andpartington]

[quote]Quote (lutonlagerlout @ 29 July 2007,08:49)
problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

CRASH BANG WALLOP Oh dear!


"do you like crazy paving love"

andy

[Tonestastic]

Quote (lutonlagerlout @ 29 July 2007,08:49)
problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

CRASH BANG WALLOP Oh dear!


"do you like crazy paving love"

andy

:blushes:

won't do it again sir

I take it there's not much I can do but wait for the sealant to weather / wear off - how long do you think it will take?

[seanandruby]

not to worry we have all been guilty of it in the past. health and safety is a good thing a? think we should have a don't and donts section here . . .yes i know i meant it donts and donts ???

[lutonlagerlout]

problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

dead child apparently,which really isnt good at all
a scaffolder from luton got done recently,kids in london tied a rope around his scaffold and pulled it over killing a 3 years old girl.
now although none of the kids should have been on the building site and the scaffold wasnt designed to have 5 kids pulling it laterally with a rope,he got fined about 5k and sent down and the main contractor got a 30 k fine
where does it all end
LLL

problem is kids can push out the 1 supporting slab with bad results
LLL

CRASH BANG WALLOP Oh dear!

dead child apparently,which really isnt good at all
a scaffolder from luton got done recently,kids in london tied a rope around his scaffold and pulled it over killing a 3 years old girl.
now although none of the kids should have been on the building site and the scaffold wasnt designed to have 5 kids pulling it laterally with a rope,he got fined about 5k and sent down and the main contractor got a 30 k fine
where does it all end
LLL



Edited By lutonlagerlout on 1185733955

[lutonlagerlout]

above message gone a bit haywire,pls disregard double posts
LLL

[seanandruby]

gone are the days when kids could walk around building sites. i remember when i was 10 years old climbing scaffolding into high buildings to collect empty pop bottles. some of the blokes would save them for me. also we would crawl up drainage pipes being laid in the roads. had a mate killed as we were scaling a roof and another had is arm blown off touching live cables. now their are fences, but kids will always find a way.