Big gap beween edge blocks & wall

[nicko]

Hi Tony,
thanks for the site, wouldn't be close to finishing my block-pave project without it.
I'm draining towards a house wall so have laid soldier blocks with a 20mm fall away from the wall (as your drainage page suggests) however, this has meant that while the base of the block is against the wall the angle results in a gap of about 8mm between the top of the block & the wall. Hope you can picture that, i can send a drawing if required.
When i finally bed in the blocks should i fill this space with the dry sand or maybe before with a dry mortar mix?

thanks

[Tony McC]

Just filling it with the jointing sand will be fine.

As this joint is against the wall and at the high point, it's not going to be greatly troubled by scour, and should self-seal in a matter of weeks. The only problem you might expereince is that, at that sort of width, it's a attractive des-res for your typical nuisance weeds, such as dandelions and plantains.

Obviously, a bit of maintenance will keep this under control, but you might want to consider using a sealant to bind together the jointing sand, rendering it useless as a home for weeds.

[dodgy diy er]

I have a similar problem as I have built my soldier course against a wall which being over 100 years old is irregular and despite extensive trimming of blocks it still leaves some hefty gaps.

What sort of sealant are you recommending to prevent weed growth ?

[nicko]

thanks for the advice
just done a search from pavingexpert home page & come up with http://www.pavingexpert.com/sealants.htm

[Tony McC]

Recommended sealants for block paving:

Resiblock Ultra or 22 depending on application
Techcon SuperSeal
Block Seal by Nufins

...contact details for all of these companies can be found on the page quoted by Nicko above.