Laying in heavy rain.

[98-1093880017]

The ground is prepared and blinded, ready for paving, but blinding is saturated due to heavy rain. Is it safe to screed new sand on top and start laying or will this affect the finish of the job?

[alan ditchfield]

Yes this will affect the finished job, block paving is not a job for wet weather, grit sand behaves in a peculiar way when wet. Be patient and do a proper job first time around, or you will find the blocks settle more than anticipated and settle more in the wetter areas.

[84-1093879891]

In these circumstances, the usual test for a bedding course is to lift up a handful and squeeze it in your fist. If any water runs out, it's too wet and you need to give it more time to drain.

A quality laying course sand drains quite rapidly, but sometimes, the sub-base can delay the draining process, and you need to wait 4-6 hours to get the sand to a workable condition.