The Brew Cabin

manged to get all full blocks laid and at last it is starting to look like a drive!taken note of what you said about the free edges and not to put the car on, i packed the edges with sand where any foot traffic will be.Decided to try and do cuts during week even if its just an hour or so each night its better than nothing.I did the 45 deg herringbone pattern and even though the edges or not in i was suprised how firm the whole structure felt.

cheers
paj

That's the trouble with this time of year - the daylight drains so quickly after 3pm and it's a bugger of a job getting accurate marking and cutting done under artificial light.

The sand packing will hold the blocks sufficiently for foot traffic in the short term. It's a pity you can skive off work for a day - it's perfect cutting-in weather today. :)

blocks are down and all cuts done, i know it should be done by now but last few weeks up to xmas were just mad so i thought i would leave sanding until i was off work.Attempted to sand and wacker yesterday blocks were dry so i brushed all sand in and booted up the wacker, started off ok but then in some areas water came thru,so it all stopped there.Is it a case of letting it dry out and trying a small patch out after dry spell until no water comes thru?,some areas were ok but i didnt wacker them fully thought it best to leave it all.

cheers
paj
p.s.
Happy New Year!!

Good to hear you're still worrking, paj. I thought you'd packed up for the winter!

With all the rain we've had recently, it comes as no surprise to hear that water is pumping up through the joints when you run the wacker plate over the blocks. You need to minimise this for two reasons...

1 - the water indicates that the bedding course is saturated and will become fluidised when vibrated which can cause movement or settlement of the paving from desired level

2 - the water brought up through the joints carries silts and muds and can cause long-term staining of the block surface if allowed to dry. If mucky water bubbles up, wash off the blocks with a watering can and fine rose using the minimum possible amount of clean water.

Try to give the blocks at least 48 hours after heavy rain before wackering to allow the bedding course time to drain. That'll be May, then! ;~)

All the best! :)

was thinking about trying to sand tomorrow afternoon(sunday) hasnt rained since receiving your last reply,the thing that worries me now is the low temperatures we are having just recently,is it ok to wacker if the ground may be a little firm?.

With the frost in the ground, you're not going to get proper compaction, but you might be able to get some sand into the joints.

The depth of frost has another effect: when it's only just 'crusting' the surface, then running the wacker over a paved surface won't do any harm, but, if there's a deep frost, the bedding layer can be solid, and rattling the blocks with a wacker plate can result in them chipping and spalling.

If I were you, I'd just brush in some sand and leave the wackering until we get a thaw.

I'n't winter fun? ;)

Its done!!!!

finally got it sanded and wackered today, no water comming thru, no frost, it wasnt raining, the only prob i had was i did manage to break the edges on a couple of blocks near the soldiers (getting a bit carried away with wacker) get those sorted at the weekend and thats it!!...........or is it?..........i will prob end up digging rest of lawn up and block it all and those slabs i put down on the back garden next to decking they have got to be changed and er.. er... i will think of something :)

just like to finish by thanking you for your time and patience and a brilliant web site. Thanks

all the best
paj

So when do we get to see the photies? :)