Marshalls drivesett tegula - porous blocks

[ShaunR]

Hi Everyone,

Many thanks for such an informative site. I've recently had a new drive laid using Marshalls Tegula Blocks. The workmanship appears to be top quality but i'm concerned about some of the blocks that have continued to look wet for an extended period of time...the medium and small ones. Granted it hasn't really had a chance to dry in this terrible weather but the large blocks tend to dry pretty quickly whereas the small/mediums have remained wet for days. The joint sand is also wet..which i'd expect given the rain. Marshalls Technical have suggested it could take months (ie Spring) to dry out and the larger blocks drying sooner has been put down to their larger surface area. Does this sound correct..i just want to be sure i don't have a bad batch.

The other issue i have is the final part of the work..which is sealing. The contractor always seals tegula blocks with Aquaseal but cannot procede whilst the drive is wet. Is this product recommended or should i look to use something else on this product? When i mentioned it to the lady at Marshalls she said that my guarantee would be void if i used a sealant and they only recommend their Keybond product. Does this sound right..seems a bit strict?

Hope you can help and thanks in advance,

Shaun

[ShaunR]

Anyone care to comment please?:(

Thank you

Shaun

[williams]

I,ve been doing in the trade since 1997 and still don't know why the odd blocks on paving stay damp, i really dont ??? wouldnt worry too much as eventually after good weather they will dry fully.

R.e the sealing i know very little except leave it for at least 8 months maybe longer to let any efflorescence out as it can get trapped under the resin leaving a milky stain which wont go.

[ShaunR]

Hello,

Thanks very much for replying. We've had a good dry day here today and although it's still about 50/50 the smaller blocks are drying out. The large one's always show signs of drying straight away, so maybe Marshalls are correct and it does have something to do with surface area.

Regarding sealing, my contractor has been in business for 16 years and says he always uses Aquaseal a couple of weeks after laying the drive and has never had any complaints. Do you think i should just get the sealant off him (as it's been built into the price) and do it later as you have mentioned? The reason is that a fair amount of sand is washing out with the heavy downpours we've had and i'd like to stabilize it if possible. Maybe it would be more appropriate to use Keybond and then seal next year sometime...it's all very difficult when you don't have a clue:)

Shaun

[hip rafter]

hello

just in the middle of laying pavers myself which i bought from a local precast company and they make their own. i'm laying about 170m2 which is roughly 9000 bricks and about 1500 are staying wet got in contact with them and they replaced them and some of them are holding water as well they said they don't know the problem it seems to me that its not been compressed to the same pressure or there is a different amount of water in the mix when it is made

i know how you feel
ps hope somebody knows the answer

[ShaunR]

How long have yours stayed wet for? I hope these do dry out as it is a really great job and i can't even consider ripping them up to replace them.

Hopefully Tony will be able to give us an answer..from his years of experience i'm sure it's been seen before.

[slimdotjim]

Marshalls produce a quality product, any seconds or end of line will be found on there e-bay shop.
Considering the weather we’ve been having moisture from above and below, evaporation and capillary etc,
Will keep the blocks damp until a dry spell arrives, if ever.
Personally I would not seal the blocks for at least three months, next spring would be a good time
Not sure about Aquaseal, Resiblock or advanced sealing solutions pro seal are my preferred choice
I can understand why Marshalls would void the guarantee if you bought any product and altered it I couldn’t see you getting your money back
Hope this is of some help
Jim

[ShaunR]

Cheers Jim.

I'm sure it's normal..so i think i'll ask the contractor to use Keybond for now and hope that stabilises the jointing sand. The next year i'll buy get some sealant and take it from there. I was keen to get it sealed to avoid any weeds etc getting a foothold in the joints.

[James.Q]

marshalls only endorse there own products thats why key bond. its to them like buying a bmw and fitting skoda parts. pun intendid :p

[ShaunR]

lol..Is there a better product than Keybond then, that would waterproof / stabilise over the Winter until i can get a sealant applied?

[RAPressureWashing]

ShaunR
We clean & re-seal paving and to be honest I would leave sealing till next year April-May earliest. There is to much dampness at this time of year to seal properly IMO. Remember the surface has to be completely dry to seal and at this time of year not always possible.
So the short answer is let winter do it's worse it will allow any efflorescence to show it's self, come April-May next year (weather depending) clean, allow to dry re-sand then seal.

[ShaunR]

Thanks Roger..are you saying i shouldn't even bother with the Keybond to stabilise the jointing sand?

Cheers,

Shaun

[RAPressureWashing]

Thanks Roger..are you saying i shouldn't even bother with the Keybond to stabilise the jointing sand?

Cheers,

Shaun

If you are going to seal the paving next year don't see the point in keybonding it now. If the paving has been layed well etc you shouldn't loose to much sand and the paving shouldn't move etc over the winter, also when you come to seal the paving you are going have to make sure all the keybonded sand is cleaned out of the joins as not to have some clean fresh joins from re-sanding and slighlty dirty joins from the keybonded ones.
This is just my view, we have a client wanting theirs sealed this year and have advised them the same as I have stated here, so have booked it in for next year.

[Dave_L]

I never realised Marshalls did so much business on ebay!

Marshalls on ebay

[ShaunR]

Cheers for the opinions chaps..it's still drying after 4 days without rain..lol