Loose blocks

[londongal]

My new driveway has been down now for just over a month and I have been topping up the kiln sand very 2 weeks where gaps have appeared.

I have noticed that some blocks seems a bit loose (moving as I stand on them). Is this normal while they are settling or do they need to be compacted again?

The weather was dry when the driveway was laid!

[msh paving]

did you lay it yourself or was it contracted?
i would get the contractor back to re compact the blocks as the should be locked tight with the sand,2 or 3 passes over the resanded blocks should fix it

[londongal]

I used a paving contractor. Thanks for your reply. I'll give him a call.

[londongal]

The paving contractor says the problem is because I am using Marshall Tegula slabs which are tumbled and therefore have wider gaps at the corners. They need more jointing sand to fill these corners and should settle then.

Does this seem reasonable?

[GB_Groundworks]

sounds like a fob off, its the edge(side) that dictates the gap not the corner profile.

[Tony McC]

While it's true that tumbled blocks will use slightly more sand for the jointing when corners are heavily distressed, this does NOT explain why blocks are moving when you walk across the pavement.

There can sometimes be slight movement before the jointing sand is applied, but once there's even a small amount of sand in the joint, the space for what we refer to as "rotation" is eliminated and their should be no discernible movement of the blocks.

[msh paving]

hi, i would suggest another reason is the contractor has not used a heavy enough compactor plate or has no done suffiant passes to vibrate sand tight, i always use a wacker diesel engined plate 3-4 passes which would need 8 passes with a small petrol wacker you can lift in 1 hand mine take 2 people to lift

[Dave_L]

Yep, I'd agree - the diesel plates are the best for whacking blocks, nice to see one being used, MSH