The Brew Cabin

Well thought i'd drop in to see how the excellent site was getting along and just to say the constant rain is killing me, we have jobs from almost 3 weeks ago that we still cannot kiln due to the ground being constantly wet and except from getting the hair dryer out i am really stuck i cannot remember a time when it rains every day for weeks on end and even on days that it does not rain the ground stays damp and kilning is futile, any tips here m8y.

I've been having the same problem - Sanding the joints in wet conditions. But I've got an answer.

I recently bought a 3 pronged blow torch - approx £50 and a large gas bottle - approx £30. Wait until there is no rain !!!! even if the ground is still wet. Blow torch the paving keeping around 6" above and in no time at all the blocks will be dry enough for sanding. A 40m2 drive takes approx 20 mins to dry - depending on how wet. After brushing in sand and compacting, go over again with blow torch and give it one final sand - the heat will keep on drying the silica sand. I've just managed to get 4 drives sanded yesterday - they have been waiting for 3 weeks. The best £80 I've spent in ages !!! It means that I can get all my work done in one go and I dont have to keep returning to jobs and not making money - which is why we are all doing this for - certainly not for the love of it especially in our climate, although looking at a finished driveway still gives me a tingle even after all these years.

Contractor in Cumbria

(Edited by Nigee at 2:06 pm on Nov. 30, 2002)

i actually had this idea the other day when i said to partner in jest that maybe we should use something along those lines however after thinking about it we thought better of it, but u say it works ??? so maybe we should rethink this one through and maybe try it out. What make & model torch is it plz, and how do u get on with the sand after compaction do u not find all the water rising back up and clogging the kiln sand again when running the vib plate over it??

Cant recall the make & model of gas torch ( I think it was Italian ). I bought mine from Hewden Hire Centres.

Yes some of the water rises to the surface after compaction - you have to dry the blocks again and give it a final sand. You are not guaranteed to completley fill all the joints but at least most of it will be done - What I do is leave a bag of Silica Sand with the customer at the end of the job and tell them to brush it in when the ground is completley dry.
You have to try something in this weather or you will never get any jobs finished.

well its sunday its 3:30 in the afternoon and im off to kiln sand a job why?? because its the first time the blocks have been dry in like weeks so i cant miss this up and seems as the job was quite big i was wackering in the dark, a great way to round off any weekend however the customer is quote 'over the moon' and the cheque is now in the bank and we picked up another job next door into the bargain:) which means im fully booked now till end of feb:) hayhow eh. i just wish it would go colder then it would stop raining so much. im gonna see if i can get one of them big blow torches tommorrow.

Even with the blow torch, you're never going to get a fully sanded joint, as the lower reaches of the joint will still be damp, but you will be able to get sufficient sand into the joint to give adequate interlock for low-speed driveway traffic over the short term.

Even in summer, you have to top-up sand jointing 6 weeks or so after the event, and this is even more important during winter. If we get a freak dry spell between now and the end of Feb, it's worth darting around to all the jobs you've done since the autumn and top up the sand jointing while you can. One final check in March or April should then be enough to ensure full joints. It's a p.i.t.a, I know but it makes for good customer relations, and they tell their mates/families just how pleased they are with the attention to detail they're receiving. :)

One caveat on the use of blow torches with any paving, but particularly with concrete blocks - don't dwell on one spot for too long. If you superheat a small area of damp paving, the water trapped within the block itself is turned to steam and will literally 'explode' in an attempt to escape, sending shards of concrete flying in all directions at high speed, and making a mess of the block in the process - keep that torch moving!

exploding water tony, u ever heard of water driven engine all u need to do is get the water to explode and drive the piston down and bingo u are a billionaire :)