Greetings all. adivice needed on setts - Plaaning to lay 40sqm of reclaimed setts

[martin99]

Firstly Hello all,

I have been reading up for a few months now this site and its forums are great. (makes a change)

Let me explain;

I'm currently renovating my parents house for them. (old farm house built from mill stone grit) atleast i have sourced some reclaimed sandstone sets with a 4" backs. Took forever to find good ones but atleast i found them.

I scrapped the old rubbish drive (and it really was) now down to about 10" I've layed the fabric and spread the first layer of limestone crusher run ready to be 'whacked' Was planning on doingatleast 6 passes each layer. Some ares need more layers so i'm bulking up.

I'm really not 100% sure where to go though after i've built up the base layer. The sets are all differing size backs so i'm guessing a screed bed would be a waste of time.

I was planning on building the base up to 5" below the final then getting a delivered in 6:1. Then laying the setts and doing a pass or too to settle them in.

Is there a better way of doing this?

thanks in advance for your expertise and advice. :laugh:

[Tony McC]

You can't realistically use a plate compactor to bed in an area of setts laid on concrete. The only time a plate could be used is when laying calibrated setts (ie: all of the same depth) onto a flexible (eg: sand) bed.

When laying onto concrete, each sett needs to be individually tapped down to the requisite level using a rubber mallet or a pavior's maul.

[martin99]

Thanks for the reply Tony. THat's a good point hadn't thought of that. Still can use the plate on the base i guess its going to be a long job of bedding each one by hand I guess thats the price you pay for wanting reclaimed setts.

Does the mix sound right? 6:1 I was wondering if i should maybe go for ST4 C20 Concrete dry mix instead

4 x Gravel plus
2 x Grit Sand plus
1 x Cement

This seems to make more sense than using a 6:1 due to the differing depths.

thanks
mart

[Tony McC]

ST4 definitely!

[martin99]

awesome thanks for the advice. i'll have to post a pic or too of the finished job. Hopefully this rain we keep having won't slow things down anymore

[martin99]

ok nearly 2/3rds of the way with this looking very nice (if i do say so myself) Never again... Using reclaimed setts is more mess than its worth, i'm sure after its all done i'll change my mind and forget that cleaning bitmac of 18tonne of caobble was indeed fun.

Starting to think about pointing now. I'm thinking of something along the looks of pitch, but without the mess issues when it's hot. I really like the old fassioned look. Any suggestions please guys @ work just laughed when i mentioned pitch. I guess thats abit old fassioned now.

[lutonlagerlout]

pitch could get messy
rompox easy basalt woul be quick to install but would cost a packet
or good old mortar
the choice is yours
LLL

[Tony McC]

Pitch is all well and good, if you have the time, but if you don't, and you have a reasonably generous budget, then a polymeric such as Rompox D1 or VDW 850 is a fast and simple option.

If a cementitious material is preferred, then Easipoint or Flowpoint would be a good choice. These are cheaper than the polymerics but require a higher degree of skill in using them with messing up.

[martin99]

I asked around for pitch but couldn't my local suppliers just laughed at me. One siad last time they sold pitch was years go. I did a quick search for Rompox D1 or VDW 850 but couldn't really get much info on it. Is it black like pitch or a normal pointing mortar colour?

Don't suppose you would have an idea where to go about ordering either pitch or one of these polymeric's?

Thanks.

[Tony McC]

Sett jointing pitch is sold via Colas - your local suppliers prove, once again, that the BMs serving this nation are staffed by ignorant, bone-idle survivors of frontal lobotomies. Why can't they make the minor effort required to look up a product when asked, instead of just sneering?

http://www.colas.co.uk/colas-detail-page.asp?pageId=244

Try not to give business to the miscreants who weren;t able to find this for you.

Romex - still having distribution probnlems, and I'm seeing their UK/RoI agent on Tuesday coming, but I'm not expecting any dramartic improvements since last we talked.

VDW - readily available from NCC in Chorley - 01257 266696 or try the website....

http://www.nccinaction.co.uk/services/default_item.php?id=11

[martin99]

That Romex stuff looks so good but i just calculated that it would cost me over 1.6k to use it shame thats abit out side my budget. Seems like ready/pre mixes all are. I tried the easy point system though. Very good stuff just again because i used reclaimed rough setts though i'd be using 50+ bags.

As my knees are totally messed up now after 16 days cleaning and laying setts I think i really need to brush or pour the jointing. Would it be possible to make a on site mix with a PC, silica, dye and plasticiser to make it pourable. Surely would be alot cheaper than a ready mix? I guess this would be unknown quantities though:rock:

Just can't bring myself to get down and point..

[martin99]

and your coverage rates where spot on!!!

[lutonlagerlout]

what does " :rock:" mean please?
LLL

[Ted]

:rock: is one of those smiley faces/expressions

[martin99]

i was trying to emphasis my knee pain oops