Porphry - Laying porphry

[slowbutrough]

Does any one on here have any experiance of laying 25mm porphry flags, whats the best bedding for them, and are there any things to look out for when laying them? Cracking site btw

[Pablo]

What type of porphry are you laying and are you going stretcher/ herringbone pattern etc.

[slowbutrough]

Evenin' Pablo, they're 500mm wide, random lengths up to 900mm, pricey too!

[Tony McC]

Porphyry can be tricky, which is why we see most of it as setts rather than flagstones.

It *must* be laid on a full mortar bed, and I'd strongly recommend a bond bridge (daubing the underside with a slurry of SBR and cement) as the crystalline nature of the stone can make it difficult to get a good bond between bed and flag.

There can also be unseen fracture lines, so try not to clonk them too hard. Generally speaking, the Italian porphyry tends to better quality (and therefore pricier) than the Argentinian stuff, but even that needs respectful handling or you can end up with 20% wastage.

[slowbutrough]

Many thanks for the info Tony, sounds like I'm going to have fun!