samk wrote:Thanks Bob but surely a pro may have some ideas of how to salvage without just saying - start again at any cost!
Sam I'm going to try and save you from the wraith of the pro's.
I may not be an expert but I've been on here for a couple of years and I'm now beginning to understand how the pro's work.
What the pro's are saying is remove the bedding layer and start again. Not the sub base as well.
They'll have the tools and know how to do this.
What would be the salvage job, might turn out to be the slurry we've already mentioned?
Yes you'll find a 'tradesmen' who'll take on a salvage (bodge) job but the pro's on here have reputations to look after.
If a salvage job doesn't work then their reputation may suffer.
I will have a go at the salvage job, as the movement is hardly perceptable and hope it works (cos it otherwise looks great and the overall levels are fine).
Did just chat to a stonemason who i know who said that if it was him he would take out one stone in the middle of the affected stones- build a box to exactly fit in the gap and pour in slurry and keep topping it until it stops going down - he though that the slurry would gradually over a period of a few hours seep into any void and set the area hard - after 48 hours.
he said no gaurantees it would work but could not see any reason why it would nt - so fingers crossed.
Re the other pro's on this site - I now know the 100% way - just want to avoid it - any advice given will be taken in the spirit of 'trying to make the best of a less than ideal situation.
As Bob has said, pro's are pro's. We do the job correctly, which is the idea. There is nothing worse than trying to halfway-house fix someone else's errors - the reality is that we have reputations, hard-fought against the fly-by-night merchants. Lots of us won't be associated with covering bodges full stop. You've only got to look at the recent "patio turning into a swamp" thread to see how people feel. That said, we like to be a helpful bunch (I am fairly new here). I can see why the stonemason suggested the slurry but I doubt very much it will work - you would need it the consistency of runny water so its almost neat cement (nice bit of staining to go with the rest of the job) to find its way through all the voids - 10 sqm ? Unlikely, then again if you want to use your time up trying it, and then afterwards, other dodges that won't work, then be our guest and keep us advised - we like a smile now and again.
I understand your reluctance to take it up, I really do, but -
You have chosen a product that is perceived as "premium". It's not being laid in a manner befitting its nature though, is it? With regards to the joints, 2-3mm is useless. There are not so many paving products that are specifically designed to be butt-jointed. Click this link to Bradstone:-
It only took me 5 seconds to find, and notice the joints - all 10mm or thereabouts. Did you not consult the paving company's literature, the seller, the 'net before you started?
Don't waste any more time - take them up, clean them off, and re-lay them properly. You will have to look at them a long long time, you want to do that with a smile not a frown. Alternatively, get someone in who knows what they are doing and let them do it the right way. If you remove them and scrape the backs, then remove the bedding layer, its an easy little fill-in job for someone as the groundworks are done already so it shouldn't cost so very much.
Alternatively, you could always call 0800 DIAL-A-P*KEY
