Nustone problems - Nustone problems

[Lewis11]

Relatively new to this, be decided to take the leap and replace my rear patio.
I ordered almost 36 square metres of sawn Indian sandstone from Nustone.com.
Following delivery, on closer inspection it became apparent that the slabs were not uniform in thickness. Infant almost a third of the slabs were not the 20mm described but were 17mm.
Nustone were not helpful. After a number of calls and emails to Nustone, the formal response was that

'Natural stone products especially sandstone can be cut to +/- 3-4mm of the thickness specified (our website states up to 5mm for sandstone products)'

This despite the product description stating that the sawn stone is 'accurately callibrated to 20mm'!

Wanted to let others know to be very cautious about using this company.

[London Stone Paving]

I dont want to sound harsh but If the website states +\- 5mm then you can have no complaints about some of the slabs being 17mm thick. Nustone are at the cheaper end of the market and stone is like anything else in that you get why you pay for. It's not really fair to knock them when they have given you a product that falls within their stated specifications

[Lewis11]

Maybe this is considered normal, as a newbie didn't foresee it.
The +- quoted wasn't displayed anywhere on the product description, but was drawn to my attention in the terms and conditions / small print.
I had assumed that as sawn and accurately callibrated to 20mm, that this is what I would receive?

[lutonlagerlout]

the thickness of the stone will make little difference
the bedding is the key to success here
most slabs/flags have to be laid individually so i cannot see any issues
good luck
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

TBH lewis +/- 5mm is not normal for sawn paving. British standards for sawn paving is +/- 3mm.
Regarding the tolerance info being tucked away in the small print, I can now understand why you are disgruntled. Any information on the specification should not be tucked away in the small print, it should be clearly visible.
Like Luton says though it wont effect your finished patio as long as your installer knows what they are doing

[lutonlagerlout]

all the sawn paving i have laid albeit london stone and global stone has been very accurately sized i.e. 600 by 600 300 by 600 etc
the thickness of the flags is not something that would make any difference to me unless they were wildly under or oversized
LLL

[Lewis11]

These were 600x900, all precise, but the thickness varied. Was also concerned about the slab being weaker at 17mm

[DNgroundworks]

3mm less thickness will make next to no difference at all strength wise.

[lutonlagerlout]

your bedding layer is the key to all this lewis
they need to be fully bedded on 6:1/ grit sand :cement
i use around 100ml of SBR in every mix to aid adhesion as well as water to suit
hope this helps
LLL

[London Stone Paving]

3mm does make a massive difference to the strength. When we decided to make our sawn paving 25mm thick, we did some calculations. We worked out that 25mm thick paving was over 40% stronger than 22mm thick paving. Obviously that doesnt take into account the varying characteristics of a natural material but it does make for very interesting reading.

I put a post on here at the time which detailed the maths behind the calculation. I'm hoping that Rimex boy is going to tell me how to find the post It must have been 3 years ago now

[Carberry]

3mm less thickness will make next to no difference at all strength wise.

Doesn't sound like much but that 3mm makes the 20mm slab 17.7% thicker. No idea what that translates to strength wise but 17mm is a tile :laugh:

[DNgroundworks]

Whats the issue regarding thickness if its on a full bed?

[TheRockConcreting]

Whats the issue regarding thickness if its on a full bed?

If the force exceeds the limit of the stone it will crack even with being firmly suck on a full bed.

Think compression test.

[lutonlagerlout]

i can confirm that steve's 25mm thick paving is far less prone to breakages than other unnamed suppliers 22 mm paving
in fact on our last job of over 390No 900 by 600 s 1 flag broke in transit,which we used for cuts and we had one failure at installation(wacking it with my mallet) which we used for cuts
LLL

[Lewis11]

Thank you for the responses, not sure if I'm more or less concerned?!

Has anyone had dealings with this company before?