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Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 6:07 pm
by wario
Oh I meant to mention. For anyone who happens to read this thread. These Mallets are fantastic quality. I bought the 60mm version and have another lighter one coming for tiling:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp....n_title
Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2020 11:40 pm
by lutonlagerlout
£40 for a mallet !! you must be made of money 
wickes sand may be dubious,depends where they get it
you wont need a lot maybe 3 bags and 1 cement
dont forget to keep it middling dry
cheers LLL
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:21 am
by wario
Cheers LLL, apparently B&Q have re opened so I can walk in and have a look at the sand, check the colour and how soft it is and make a decision. Yes definitely will be very little water in the mix, been reading up all the tips on here and have a couple of pointing tools to pick up. One to push deep into the joint and one to strike.
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 9:52 am
by lutonlagerlout
if you can try to get a marshalltown jointing iron 3/4 inch 81 pattern
if you get the slump right it wont stain
nice choice of stone btw
its a bugger to cut but IMHO the kandla grey is the least maintenance of all the indian stone
cheers LLL
Edited By lutonlagerlout on 1587632015
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 11:13 am
by wario
Cheers, I picked up two marshaltown pointing trowels, plus already had a little tuck trowel or two. Tools supplies are a bit limited at the moment.
Yes it’s nice stone, cheers.
Hopefully be done and dusted by the weekend. I’ll leave it all to cure for a month or so and decide on sealer etc. I’m leaning towards Lithofin.
The main website/this forum has helped me out big time, I’ve consumed a lot of info over the past few weeks.
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 2:14 pm
by dig dug dan
Did you design the layout first, or making it up as you go along?
Looking good btw!
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 5:16 pm
by wario
I picked it up as I went but tried to anticipate where things were leading.
All laid now. My 4� angle grinder had a good work out....ha ha
Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 6:10 pm
by wario
Just having a play around with the pointing and did a couple of tests. I used 2 parts building sand, 2 parts plastering sand, 1 cement and 0.2 SBR against the cement. A drop of water. Maybe too much.
If you look at the second to last photo perhaps there’s a bit of staining ?
Also tried to achieve the dryness that LLL suggested. The ball of mortar is in the photo. Appreciate any advice. Preferably before 6am tomorrow... ha!
Link to album :-
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 9:06 am
by Tony McC
The mix looks OK, but don;t hold it with ungloved hands - it *will* burn your skin.
There could well be a little bit of staining, but nothing too bad, and it'll probably weather away in a few months.
Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2020 11:58 am
by wario
Many thanks Tony. Might be a bit hot today to do it. The slabs are roasting hot!
Posted: Sat Apr 25, 2020 9:51 pm
by wario
Finally got round to pointing today.
Used a dry mix as suggested, in fact I didn’t need any water in the mix at all, just the SBR.
I got my technique down after a few square metres. It took me all day, with a fair amount of breaks. The marshalltown 1/4� tuck pointing trowel was the star of the show for pushing really deep into the joint and then striking with the curved marshalltown pointing trowel. Used the larger side (5/8) for the larger joints and the smaller end for the smaller joints. I think maybe ½�
I can see why these brush in/slurry systems etc have become popular.
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
https://photos.google.com/share....WdXNDZB
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:15 am
by Tony McC
No water??? How will the cement cure? It needs *some* water to hydrate - it's an essential part of the curing and hardening process.
You may be lucky - there is often water included with many liquid SBRs but, even so, there's no certainty and you could well have created a mortar that will degrade because it is depnding solely on curing of the rubber/latex in SBR in place of a proper hydration of the cement.
I'd sooner omit the SBR than omit the water!
Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2020 11:52 am
by wario
The sand was already wet. If I added more water then the mix would be too wet and stain the slabs
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 2:13 pm
by Bob_A
wario wrote:The sand was already wet. If I added more water then the mix would be too wet and stain the slabs
How's that for luck sand with the right amount of water already added :laugh:
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:42 pm
by wario
:laugh:
Fairly lucky but some of the mixes were too wet so I had to increase the sand and cement volumes to get it drier.