The Brew Cabin

Hello,
Can you please answer 3 questions before I start out on bumpy road of patio design...
1) my patio is going to be an "L" shape. I do not want there to be any right angles on it so I want the internal angle to be curved, as if someone has taken a bite out of it. Can you what the minimum radius would be of such a cut.
2) Can you please tell me how to do it. You mention in your site to use a "power cut-off saw". These are about £35 to hire for the weekend. Would it be possible to use an angle grinder from argos, or would I be wasting my time, and how long would it take to cut each flag.
3) I like the look of Marshalls heritage range (Calder brown) but this is about £25 from my local builders yard. Am I being ripped off, or is that a fair price (I am wanting about 40m2), and if it is a fair price can you recommend any other manufaturers that maybe slightly cheaper, I know that wickes offers something for about £17 /m2, but just doesn't look quite right!!!

Thanks in advance

Chris

Hi,

1 - I'm not sure I follow - how can you use rectangulatrflags on a rectangular, L-shaped patio and not have any right angles?

D'yer mean summat like....



...if so, then there is no minimum radius. theoretically. Howwever, a radius of less than 600mm is very, very tight and awkward to cut.

2 - If I knew what you were doing, I might be able to tell you how to do it, but, as I'm not sure, I'll wait for clarification first.

You could use a Nangle Grinder from Argos (or anywhere else, for that matter!), but you will find it difficult because of the small blade size, which means you'll not always be able to achieve full-depth cuts, and the blades don't last very long when cutting concrete or stone. On t'other hand, the small size of the Nangle Grinder makes it easier to handle, especially for intricate cuts or tight radii. All-in-all, it's probably worth investing in a Nangle Grinder, as you can use it for other DIY jobs around the home, whereas a Power Saw is far more expensive and less useful for the average DIYer, even if it does better cuts.

However, you MUST get a pair of goggles, a decent dust mask and a pair of gloves. The dust that is spit out from the cutting is nasty, nasty stuff, and, because of the small size of the NG, you tend to be working even closer to the cutting edge than you would be with a PS.

3 - Heritage Paving - that price is about right. There are umpteen different wet-cast riven reproduction flags on the market, and it's a matter of finding one you like. To be honest, you don't get anything decent for much less than 20 quid per square metre, and, for the top-of-the-range concrete copies, you're looking at 30-50 quid per square metre. Meanwhile, you can get genuine stone flags for around 20-25 quid per square metre - admittedly, they're very thin imported Indian sandstone, but, for a patio, it's hard to beat them for aesthetics at that price.

The radius will be about 1.2m. I will be doing a random pattern, but your drawing was spot on!
I have seen advertised "Stonemarket york riven" for about 17 m2 what is your opinion on this please.
My other question is how long would it take to cut 600mm length of say 40mm concrete flag

thanks again

Chris

I must be psychotic if I can really mind-read what the patio will look like! Flippin' eck! ;)

Stonemarket York Riven - have you seen it 'in the flesh'? The surface is quite heavily textured, which is not to everyone's taste, as it can be impossible to get the patio table to stop rocking, but from a quality point of view, it's a good product. There's not a lot of variation in the colour, but there's a good range of sizes and, with a contrasting mortar joint, it can look quite effective.

To cut a 600mm long flag, in a simple straight line would take around a minute, I s'pose. A bit quicker with a diamond-bladed power saw; a bit slower with your Argos Nangle Grinder. It depends on how deep you cut. You don't need to do a full depth cut - a 10-15mm cut on the face and a 10mm deep cut on the back will usually be enough for the flag to 'snap' and save time, effort and blade.

For a curved cut, you may well be forced into doing a full depth cut, so a 600mm long cut might take 3 or 4 minutes.