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Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:33 pm
by London Stone Paving
Well done. Its a good effort. Seems like we had similar weekends. I was paving on Saturday from 9am to 10pm same as you with no labourer. Could barely get out of bed Sunday morning. Just got to put up some trellis tomorrow and I will gte the pics up.
Easipoint is definately the way forward. Dye is complete rubbish IMO
Steve
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 10:51 pm
by k13wjd
Thank you very much. I laid 40 odd granite sets into the gap by the house today with a little retainer. They will look very nice when its all pointed up. I'll remove the retainer in the morning( wooden baton wrapped in clingfilm !) And the gap at the back will become my french drain for when we get our typical scots weather !!!
did you stain your flags too ? Ha ha ha. Live + learn. Think i might have found a way to get it off, my mate is a tiler, and tiles with black machined limestone. he uses various grouts, and says that there is a product caled aquamix nanoscrub that does a wonderful job of removing any stains from stone.
Might be worth a bash. In all fairness, i washed a flag that had not been ( and had not been near mortar.) and guess what.....its got light patches - i'm guessing the dust from the quarry is well worked into the surface ! they DO clean up a little every time i wash them. stiff brush and very very hot water with lots of fairy seems to work slowly.
Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2012 11:05 pm
by London Stone Paving
I used a sweep in grout for mine. Wouldn't normally use it but the patio is only temporary for 12-18 months. Got a bit of mortar on the edges but cleaned off with water and brush as I went.
Whatever product your mate has reccomended dont use it on black limestone until you have fully checked it out. Black limestone is ultra sensitive to Chemicals and your patio could be completely ruined. If you can find out the name of the product and I will look into it for you, but do not use it unless you are 100% sure of whats in it.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:28 am
by k13wjd
txt thismorning - aquamix nanoscrub
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm....6e81f68
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:59 pm
by dig dug dan
water+soap in, 7 big shovels of sand, 1/2 bag opc( cut through with old saw, minimal spillage) another 7 big shovels, and the other half off the bag. leave to mix. adjust water. Job done.
a whole bag of cement per mix? and the soap? is that fairy liquid??
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:22 pm
by k13wjd
yeah, worked out 14 shovels at around 4:1 Big batches when your working on your own !
And no, i couldn't get any fairy, but my neighbour said any soap will do, so i just fired in the mint source shower gel. My garden smells nice.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:46 pm
by dig dug dan
And no, i couldn't get any fairy, but my neighbour said any soap will do, so i just fired in the mint source shower gel. My garden smells nice.
oh dear oh dear. 
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:52 pm
by rab1
hope your joking.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 8:12 pm
by k13wjd
Hook, Meet the line.
Aye, std green fairy. Ordered my black easipoint and a gun. seems like everyone is pointing me in that direction....
Gonna need to get them cleaned up first, think i can get LTP Grimex locally, failing that i'll order some. Seems there is a few decent options in america, but none here.
Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2012 11:08 pm
by London Stone Paving
I'm strarting to think you are a mad man.
Have you done any research into grimex before you just let it loose on your brand new patio?
I've tried to look at the data sheets on the LTP website but the link on there is not working. I know it says suitable for limestone but unless it said "suitable for Kuddapah black Indian limestone" I would not use it without further research
Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2012 12:38 am
by k13wjd
i have LOTS spare, like 10m2. i ended up with a 600x900 that was sounding very very hollow. cracked as soon as i gave it a light tap with a rubber mallet.
I've been testing small peices against chemicals. I can see why people ruin thier paving - you should see what cillit bang does to black limestone !!!
Nothing is going on it until i'm positive, and if i can't find anything worthwhile, i'll point it and leave it. its scotland, the weather will clean it soon enough !!!!!
I'll upload photo's of a flagstone thats been kept seperate from the mortar, and cleaned. I was shocked at the staining on it. Might call pavestone in the morning and see if they have had issues before.
Once again, thanks for all the advice, i must say, when its wet, it looks ruddy awesome.
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 7:54 am
by Bilabonic
Awesome job !!!
What slabs are they ? Get some pics up of the setts.
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:03 am
by k13wjd
Thanks Bilabonic. They are pavestone Black Kadapha/Indian riven limestone. Great size pack, my pre-planning meant i now have enough to do my front path too, leaving around 2m2 spare in case any ever get broken
Just been and ordered a bulk back of black polished pebbles to fill the gap and the small peice of ground next to the patio. Feck me they are expensive ! Still, didn't pick black limestone to lay red council chips next to it !
Postman is going to be murdered, as even although i put a peice of CLS across my gate, and my bins in front of it, and fitted an external post box, he decided to enter anyway, and somehow managed to dislodge a flag. Thats todays repair job. Not looked under it yet, but im presuming its just broken the bond between the mortar and the flag. Epoxy resin at the ready
Happy with the cobbs, I wanted them to look really rustic, hence why i went for tumbled. Added to that by trying to use the side of the cobb with the most irregular shape. Should look good when its pointed in black. One of the photo's makes it look as if they stand proud. They are level with the patio.
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:16 am
by Carberry
k13wjd wrote:Happy with the cobbs, I wanted them to look really rustic, hence why i went for tumbled. Added to that by trying to use the side of the cobb with the most irregular shape.
Talking like a real landscaper now. If you haven't laid them straight you just call it rustic :laugh:
Posted: Fri Jun 29, 2012 10:27 am
by k13wjd
funny you should say that. I had spent and hour sorting through 200 cobbs to get 40 that were as similar as possible. Covered the limestone ip, and laid them out along a line. They looked too even, so i started again, laid out 40 at random, got my spacing right, and mixed a batch.
Flags look dark when wet, light when dry. cobbs look dark when wet too, and very light when dry.