Granite and dye! - Staining to newly laid granite setts

[RAPressureWashing]

what sort of damage will hydrochloric acid to do pointing? does it effect colour or will it remove or loosen it?

In as it might pull the colour out of the pointing. You would use hydrochloric acid to remove cement residues so just by what it does can etch/damage the pointing if used to strong. Damage might be to strong a word but hopefully you get what I'm saying. Granite can be fairly acid resident compaired to other natural stones but in my view care is needed.

[rigby]

Yes I do completely understand thank you.

If the worst it can do is take colour out of pointing... then I might have to live with it.

Otherwise I presume that once granite cleaned, it should be repointed (does that mean raking out and start again)? builder would have to us better product that will be more accurate. Long process. Not sure my builder will be prepared to do this given the amount left I owe him which is still substanial at £3k. does anyone have a view on this?

[Carberry]

Either you wanted it done on the cheap and have been caught out, or your builder is an idiot who shouldn't have been doing the job in the first place, or he actually knew but thought he could make more money out of you.

Removing the dye from the pointing is the least of your worries, that will happen within a year anyway.

IMO the pointing should come out regardless and it should be done properly. If you wanted the pitch look I dont understand why pitch wasnt used or at the very least a decent quality polymeric.

[rigby]

ah well, who knows. price I'm paying is ballpark (about £9.5k incl stones). had 3 quotes. this one mid priced, and knew guy's work as does drives for reputable local builder... my mistake I think is that haven't seen one using setts... and he might have misled me on that..

Anyway, thanks for your input... I would like to do as you say... get stones cleaned and repointed but have lost confidence in this guy... Will work out what to do when I next see him.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Carberry]

ah well, who knows. price I'm paying is ballpark (about £9.5k incl stones). had 3 quotes. this one mid priced, and knew guy's work as does drives for reputable local builder... my mistake I think is that haven't seen one using setts... and he might have misled me on that..

Anyway, thanks for your input... I would like to do as you say... get stones cleaned and repointed but have lost confidence in this guy... Will work out what to do when I next see him.

Thanks for the feedback.

What size area is it? and where? One of the solutions could be getting Roger out to clean it with the money coming out of the £9,500.

You should sit down with the builder, talk about what is going to happen, what you expect to happen, what he can do etc. Be polite and calm. Give him a chance to fix the problem.
If you're not happy with the outcome then you start heading down the legal route which is giving him a recorded letter that gives him 14 days to sort out your 'snag list' and if he doesn't comply you then go to small claims court.

[rigby]

it's about 44 m2. simple square front to house with side path. Yes I will be speaking to the builder as you suggest but for me, advice on this forum has really helped me understand what can be done, which is what I needed before I talk to him. Thanks.

[Carberry]

it's about 44 m2. simple square front to house with side path. Yes I will be speaking to the builder as you suggest but for me, advice on this forum has really helped me understand what can be done, which is what I needed before I talk to him. Thanks.

At that price I would have expected gtfk / rompox or pitch for pointing.

[lutonlagerlout]

stewart you live in scotland and the OP lives in north london
prices for materials and labour are approximately 35-50% more expensive in the dirty south
20 tonne of type 1 costs me 380 quid =vat down here,I bet you pay a lot less
waste removal costs a bomb down here too
mind you for 9.5k cookie could have done it in reclaimed stuff
LLL

[Carberry]

stewart you live in scotland and the OP lives in north london
prices for materials and labour are approximately 35-50% more expensive in the dirty south
20 tonne of type 1 costs me 380 quid =vat down here,I bet you pay a lot less
waste removal costs a bomb down here too
mind you for 9.5k cookie could have done it in reclaimed stuff
LLL

Costs me near enough half that for a load of type 1.
£180 for a grab arm, same for a 20 yrd skip dropped at my yard.

You're right though, I never considered the location I just did a quick calculation and remembered that was in at the top end of Cookie's price range in which case you would have gotten the best of the best for laying setts.

Also, when you consider that it's only 44m2 a decent polymeric costs relatively little.

[rigby]

Just a post script to say that drive was cleaned by Roger Oakley who has done a superb job - it was a load of cement and dye on the setts. Reading some of the recent posts on your forum I'm sort of glad that we didn't go for a polymeric. seems the old fashioned methods pitch/slurry pointing would have been the best. thanks. :;):

[cookiewales]

glad you got it sorted slurry is bomb proof done right.2part expoxy would also have been good again done right

[lutonlagerlout]

roger is da man!
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

to his clients he's the 4th emergency service