Excel

[normang]

Anyone know of a "random" pattern when laying Marshalls Excel, keep ending up with lots of the smaller size left over.
Any advise would be much appreciated.

[bobhughes]

Have you checked out the patterns on this site?

[normang]

Thanks for the reply think i`ve looked everywhere but cannot find a pattern that covers the Excel pavers, which are 240x160 160x160 and the small ones are 80x160 laid in a stretcher course and dont really want any vertical joins, hope you can understand what i mean.
If it helps any there are 120 large 216 medium and 48 small per pack = 10.75 square metres.

[Ross-Paving]

When working with Excel I sort the packs into piles with 5 large, 9 medium and 2 small - working with each pile until it is used completely. General layout runs from one edge to another, so try cutting a large block in 1/2 and using it to start every other run - this will guarantee at least 20mm between vertical edges.

[normang]

Thanks for for the quick response Ross will try that tomorrow, still got about 30 metres left to lay, i have seen a few driveways layed in Excel where they haven`t used the smaller block seems a waste really as they do help to break up the "random" pattern.

[Tony McC]

This is the inherent problem with multi-size packs: you have no control over the laying ratios and you can end up with a surfeit of one size or a shortfall of another.

I know single size packs often entail having even more left-overs at the end of a job, but I always liked to leave at least a couple of metres 'spare' blocks with the client so that they had colour-matched and equally-weathered blocks to use for spares and repairs at some point in the future, and it was fairly likely that we'd be using that type of block again on another job within the next few weeks, so the 'left-overs' would not be wasted.

With singe size packs, I can choose to use, say, a 240mm wide edge course and know that I won't be short of 240s within the main body of the paving. Multi-size packs severely limit the ability to use one of the sizes as an edge course, and I can't help feeling that these packs are produced for the greater convenience of the manufacturers and the builders' merchants, rather than the poor owld contractor.