CAD Software - Is there a cost efficient CAD package?

[Adam1]

My wife and I are about to exchange on a new house that currently has large concrete public footpath style slabs in the garden. One of my first jobs will be to replace these with some more attractive flags. I am tending towards laying natural stone flags such as Indian sand stone from Bridge Street Stone (Bridge Street at £22 per M2 incl VAT and delivery seem to be one of the cheaper suppliers of Indian sandstone - has anyone had any dealings with this company?).

I would like to lay these flags in a random pattern. After reading the design pages on your site (great site by the way) I think I need to plan the pattern using a CAD package. Is there a reasonably priced CAD package that would be suitable?

[alan ditchfield]

We use them a lot and there stone seems to be of average quality no better or worse but im sure they can better this price even for the public how much are you buying and is this including delivery.

[84-1093879891]

You can have the flags laid by the time you've figured out the diff between model space and paper space in most CAD programs!

Although I do advocate their use for layout design, that advice is really aimed at contractors and designers who are familiar with CAD - for DIYers, you're much better off, both in terms of time and money, arranging for a custom design via the service offered on the Random Layouts page.

However, if you really do want to give it a go with CAD, then look for TurboCad as a freebie on a magazine cover. It's not the full proggie, but it has suffcient welly to deal with a simple layout. You used to be able to download a free 30-day trial from the TurboCad UK website, but that seems to have disappeared and I never know what's going on at the parent site in the US, but you might want to take a look - www.imsi.com

[AdamWork]

Thank you for your comments; I am sure that after a couple of days of shouting at the computer that I will be on the phone to you!
The quote I received from Bridge Street Stone was as below, the delivery is to Bedford. I thought this was quite a good quote.

40M2 Bronte Sandstone @ £14.35 per M2 £574
Delivery of 4 Crates @ £44 per delivery £176
VAT @ 17.5% £131.25

Total: £881.25

If anyone knows any where that can compete on price while still being of a decent quality then I would be very interested to hear from them. This was the best price I could find from a supplier on the links of this web page. I have stuck only to companies that have a link on this site, hopefully this will stop me from dealing with cowboys.

I was planning to point using a builders sand and cement as per the pages on this site, but I have seen a product called GeoFix that seems to be a lot quicker and easier (just brush in). Has anyone had any experience of this product?

[84-1093879891]

Did you get a price from Rock Unique? They always seem to have the best quality stone and sensible prices in/around the Sarff Eeest - 01959 565608

As for the Geo-Fix, just run a search in this Forum for previous experiences with it. Personally, I won't use it as I think it's expensive rubbish, but I can appreciate that it is useful for mortar-phobic DIYers. The big problem with it is that it doesn't bond to the flags - it just sticks to itself, and so form a totally separate 'block' of material that just happens to fit into the joint. While this is ok for narrow (butt) joints, I cannot recommend it for any wider joints, such as those formed with stone flags.

And when it comes to areas that are trafficked by cars (not that you should ever use Indian sandstone flags for such areas) I would actively advise against using GeoFix, as it just flicks out of the joints in next to no time.

[100-1093880161]

If you really want to use CAD, I find it a pain in the butt myself, try the link below:
http://www.imsisoft.com/free_trials.asp
This will get you a free 30 day trial if TurboCad Pro V10.0, sounds like a mitsubishi sports car rather than software!! :smile:

[alan ditchfield]

I am not disagreeing with Tony about geofix being far from reliable as i have made several posts on this product myself, none of them being good but i must say geofix is described as a wide jointing compound (20mm)and in my experience is stronger over a wider area than a narrow joint , all that said avoid this product at all costs.

[84-1093879891]

I know GeoFix is sold as suitable for wide joints, but in many situations were wide joints are evident, the strength of the joint is integral to the performance of the paving, and, in such cases, it is just not the right solution to the problem.

It might be ok for light-use driveways, but they flog it as being suitable for sett paving and thicker yorkstone flags, where it is demonstrably disastrous, as these pavings, particularly setts, rely on firm and reliabel joints to keep the pavement intact.

Obviously, a few setts in a garden or a small-ish area of Indian sandstone makes lesser demnds of the jointing, but they don't make this clear in the product info - they try to give the impression that it's the ideal product for all jointing problems.

[Alan Surrey]

I used geo-fix 3 years ago. Last year I should really have re-pointed, this year I should definatly re-point. It looks crap, it has nearly all eroded away now. And it costs a fortune. Although you do "brush it in" if you dont pack it into the joints very firmly (with a brush???) it won't last a week.

[alan ditchfield]

you could press it into the joints with a whacker and it would only last two weeks.