New patio & dog

[everyidhasgone]

Hi, Im having a new patio done and would appreciate some advice on slabs/sealant.
I was keen on either a sandstone or slate finish, I know they are completely different but as I have a dog and no doubt he will do his business on it, I didnt want to ruin the look.
Clearly it wont be all the time, and will be removed apart from liquid waste - I was slightly concerned as sandstone being porus.

Q) Would it be ok with sandstone? I guess a sealant like lithofin MN stainstop or other suggestions would help.

or if no go would slate be a better option.

Or am I just worrying un-necessarilliy.
Cheers
Chris

[London Stone Paving]

Hi Chris

You are absolutely right to consider the implications, dogs can make a real mess of natural stone.

All sandstone is porous but certain varieties are more porous than others. I would stay away from fossil mint sandstone as this is very porous/soft.

Other sandstones like raj green, autumn brown, kandla grey are a lot harder and less porous. If you do opt for a sandstone then go for one of these harder types. As you suggest a coat of seal is a good idea and lithofin stainstop is as good as anything out there.

Although slate is a lot less porous than sandstone, in my experience it is a lot more difficult to clean when it does get stained. If you do opt for a slate it would still be a good idea to seal it with lithofin stainstop.

If it was me I would probarbly opt for the slate, its a lot denser and will absorb a lot less than sandstone

[seanandruby]

why don't you train your dog not to sh' er, do it's stuff on the patio?

[everyidhasgone]

agreed about training - but cant guarantee he wont go in that area, I have very little garden to speak of and mostly the new patio area - hate gardening! So was really after suggestions re the patio type.

[Tony McC]

I'd shoot the dog, but then I really, really hate dogs.

Failing that, have you considered an alternative to porous sandstone, such as granite? Many of them are only just porous and so much easier to clean, the exception being the big seller, the Chinese silver grey more correctly known as G603, which is only slightly less permeable than a rice krispie cake.

[London Stone Paving]

It says a lot about the Chinese that all there stone is named by codes. Its very hard to get passionate about something called G603.

"You are not a stone, you are just a number"

[haggistini]

go for a brown slab maybe?
unless your hound has that rare white shite?

[seanandruby]

.....ha ha. I'd put a course paving, so when it drags is arse along it rips the s**** out of it. Not a dog lover either.

[haggistini]

i love dogs my old lab was called ralph? my oldman came home blotto with him one day and my our sir name is harris hence ralph harris???

[Tony McC]

I like the fact that we use meaningless codes for the various stones. You only have to look at the gamut of names used in Britain for what is essentially the very same stone.

With all the silly marketing names used by the larger companies for practically identical stone, I'm happier knowing that the "Glacier Smoke", "Silver Haze", and "Alaskan Grey" are all actually G603. At least I know what I'm dealing with then!

[Bob_A]

A bit off topic but talking of marketing names does anyone know what the common name is for Stoneflair Glendale?
http://www.patiopavingslabs.co.uk/img....ack.jpg

[Tony McC]

I think that's the one more commonly known as 'Desert sand'

[London Stone Paving]

I had never considered that Tony, good point. All these different names for stone do make it very confusing for the customer.

75% of what we sell is called by the proper name (or names which will leave no confusion), i.e fossil mint, green slate, blue black slate, kota brown limestone etc etc.

On occasions where we have created our own names for products, they are products which we exclusively source and have no mainstream name to speak of.

[Ted]

If you buy a bulk bag of sand from a merchant and leave it in the st overnight, a cat normaly comes and does it's business on it; not in the st. I imagine dogs are much the same in this respect; (ie they like to do their business on sand/loosefill rather than a hard surfacing).

Perhaps you should leave a small area where you don't slab it and hope the hound goes there to relieve itself...

[mickavalon]

How about Nappies!!:rock: