We have just had a driveway fitted with Marshalls driveline 50 block paving and I was really happy with the results- until our first bout of heavy rain, which has led me to this problem.
We have curved detailing around the step and another area, which after doing some research I've figured out was supposed to be taper cut length ways to get a nice tight fit and a nice finish. Safe to say ours doesn't have that, the blocks have just been laid with no taper, resulting in quite large gaps between the blocks (ranging from 20mm - 40 mm).
Now my questions- is it safe to fill these large gaps with a full bonding polymeric? I would like to do that to these large gaps and also on the step. Is this the right approach? Assuming I can't get someone to come and cut the blocks properly, I would like a more cost effective solution that I can do myself that will stop all the fine sand washing up every time we have heavy rain and prevent heavy rain drops from getting into the gaps.
The products I'm think of using are either- Romex Easy or Dansand Block Paving Fix. Is it okay to do this in a small area of the drive to fill in those gaps? Any other approaches to this problem?
First of all, those oversize gaps are in breach of the British Standard, but, apparently, many installers seem to think it's OK. That's because no one gets properly trained any more.
Secondly, neither of the products you uggest are ideal. The first is certainly better than the second, but even that, as a one-part polymeric, is not really the best choice.
If the blocks are not going to be cut to fit, then look to use a good quality 2-part resin mortar or a 4:1 mix of sand/cement with added SBR to cope with the natrrow end of the tapering joint.
Hi, Thanks for your reply! I don't know why anyone would think those large gaps are fine, as soon as we had some heavy rain it was very obvious that it wasn't fine :sigh:
I will go with what you suggested in that case. Would either the Rompox D1 or Rompox Drain do the job? Seeing as I only want to fill a relatively small area I didn't want to mix too much.
Also, do you or anyone reading have any professional tips on scrapping out he jointing sand that is already there?
Oh how I wish I had discovered this site before undertaking the work. Oh how I wish our contractor had discovered this site also...
D1 or Drain is fine, but you have to mix it all in one go. You can't mix just some of the pack, as the resins and aggregate are batched in precise quantities.
So, cut out the crap ( a 6" nail through a stick will remove most, if not all, of it), make sure you have at least 20mm depth, soak the paving in advance and apply the resin mortar in one go, with lots and lots of additional water.
