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Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:26 am
by Bob_A
Tony McC wrote:......if it means holding on for a few days, it's well worth the delay.
Now that that the days are shorter the plank laying seems to be taking ages, I'm hoping to finish today. The missus bless her can't wait as she wants to do some gardening around that area but I will take your advice and wait for a favourable day for the VDW 
Posted: Tue Nov 12, 2019 10:04 pm
by Bob_A
Have been doing some research and been looking at videos for VDW815 including THIS ONE
My new patio isn’t that big and measures 5m X 3.2m and according to online calculators I need around 20Kg so to be sure I’ll be buying 3x !0Kg tubs.
I was going divide the area into 3.
With the first tub I was going to fill the joints in section 1, move any excess into section 2, add the second tub, fill the joints, move any excess into section 3, add tub 3 (if necessary) fill the joints and remove excess.
Finally use a broom to brush away any remnants from the whole patio.
All done with copious amounts of water. Is that the right way?
I get the message that you can’t use too much water, but I’m still concerned, isn’t it possible to actually wash the product out of the joints or brush too much away when using a soft broom? It sounds too good to be true.
Sorry if I’m making a meal out of this but this stuff ain’t cheap and I don’t want to **** it up :laugh:
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 9:01 am
by Tony McC
It's surprising how heavily this mortar sits in the joints, once you get it in there.
For such a relatively small area, Bob, I would mix two of the tubes in one go, put them in a bigger bucket, if necxessary....or look at getting a single 25kg bucket (if they do one!)
Soak the whole pavement, soak it for at least 5-10 mins, so that there is standing water on the surface, and then tip out the mixed mortar, spray it with more water as you brush or squeegee it over trhe whole surface, NOT just the joints, and then, when they seem fairly full, keep on spraying but give it 5 mins or so to settle. Then start to sweep off, still spraying as you go.
If you need that third tub, use it now, while the first two are still fresh in the joints. Same procedure as above.
If you sweep on the diagional, so at 45° to the joints, very little will come out of the joints. Once you have most of the surplus brushed off, stop with the water spray but keep brushing. You can tool the joints if you wish, but I don't think this really achieves anything (unlike with cement mortars, where it most definitely does harden the surface).
You'll find it far easier than you expect. The two key things to bear in miond ios loads of water before and during, then loads of brushing after, to ensure nothing remains on teh surface.
Looking forward to hearing how you get on......
Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:05 pm
by Bob_A
Thank you for that excellent explanation that really has boosted my confidence
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 10:07 am
by Bob_A
As regards the VDW815 I’ve got to admit I struggled to the point that half way through pointing I rang Carl at NCC for advice. The advice he gave me was to no surprise virtually the same as what Tony had said so it must be me. :p
I flooded the area with water, tipped out the compound and started to squeegee it in with the hose going, the problem was getting the compound into the waterlogged joints, after a while the level of compound in some of the joints had dropped and needed topping up (where I assume the water had finally seeped away?) it was taking so long that the last bit of compound of the 2nd tub was going off and needed to be discarded. To finish the job I opened the 3rd tub, I didn’t need all of it and ended up for the last bit of the job forcing the compound into the joints with a trowel rather than squeegee it. It was almost as if the compound was having problems dispersing the water out of the joints, when I spoke to Carl he said perhaps I didn’t use enough water throughout the work but I certainly had the hose on almost constantly.
The only logic I can come up with is that the joints were full of water and the compound even though it is heavier it still found it difficult to disperse the water in joints.
Anyway I got there in the end and it’s probably me and user error but many thanks to Carl for taking my calls and putting me at ease. He’s doing a demonstration in the south east and he’s going to send me an invite.
So apart from the area around the patio that needs to be done it’s finished.
Thank you for the help it's much appreciated:D
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 12:45 pm
by Tony McC
That looks spot on, Bob, despite your struggles.
I suppose it's all too easy for us so-called professionals to assume particular taks are stunningly simple, when we're doing them every day, but for those doing it perhaps only once in a lifetime, it can be quite daunting, but you've shown that it *is* possible and the results can be just as good, if not better, than those achieved by a professional.
Carl is a good lad and I'm sure you'll benefit from chatting with him at the demo day.
Posted: Wed Nov 20, 2019 2:31 pm
by Bob_A
Good man is Carl he was at Futurescope when I called and he still took my calls. Perhaps you bumped into him yesterday.
Big thanks for your help along the way Tony and to your main website which I constantly refer to.
Oh by the way I cut the planks with one ofthese
I replaced the continuous blade that came with it with ones of these cheap segmented then elongated the left and right sides of the machine with some wooden extensions so that planks were fully supported when cut. Of course that wouldn't last 5 minutes in the hands of a professional but thought it worth mentioning as an idea for fellow DIYers
Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2020 10:53 am
by stonepavingdirect
Bob_A wrote:As regards the VDW815 I’ve got to admit I struggled to the point that half way through pointing I rang Carl at NCC for advice. The advice he gave me was to no surprise virtually the same as what Tony had said so it must be me. :p
I flooded the area with water, tipped out the compound and started to squeegee it in with the hose going, the problem was getting the compound into the waterlogged joints, after a while the level of compound in some of the joints had dropped and needed topping up (where I assume the water had finally seeped away?) it was taking so long that the last bit of compound of the 2nd tub was going off and needed to be discarded. To finish the job I opened the 3rd tub, I didn’t need all of it and ended up for the last bit of the job forcing the compound into the joints with a trowel rather than squeegee it. It was almost as if the compound was having problems dispersing the water out of the joints, when I spoke to Carl he said perhaps I didn’t use enough water throughout the work but I certainly had the hose on almost constantly.
The only logic I can come up with is that the joints were full of water and the compound even though it is heavier it still found it difficult to disperse the water in joints.
Anyway I got there in the end and it’s probably me and user error but many thanks to Carl for taking my calls and putting me at ease. He’s doing a demonstration in the south east and he’s going to send me an invite.
So apart from the area around the patio that needs to be done it’s finished.
Thank you for the help it's much appreciated:D
Hello Bob, this colour granite is interesting, would you kindly introduce what is the colour name?
Posted: Tue Feb 04, 2020 11:31 pm
by Bob_A
Sorry for the late response but it's your very own Ash Black 