The Brew Cabin

Dear Tony
I've just had delivered 40 square metres of riven concrete Jamestown Millennium slabs. When I viewed them at the merchants, the display showed a range of colours - predominantly light coloured, some greyer, some creamier, but most with a hint of red running through. All appeared to be quite 'natural' looking.

Unfortunately, the slabs that have arrived appear to be uniformly cream with a peach type colour rather than a hint of red. My question is, can I expect the slabs to tone down once laid, and if so, am I likely to get the range of colour difference seen at the merchants? Also, is there anything I can do to speed up the process?

I have recontacted the merchants who have informed me that the slabs on display have been outside for 4 months which accounts for the colour difference between their display and my slabs. If the colour is unlikely to become more natural, then I will have to exchange them, but am reluctant to do so as the carriage alone for picking up and redelivering has been estimated at £70.

Hope you can help
MartinC

I'm not familiar with this flag, Martin - where did you get them? I suspect they must be a regional/local product: there are so many of these that I find it impossible to keep track of which manufacturer is producing what, in what colours and what sizes, etc...

However, there can be no doubt that the colouring of the flags at the moment will 'mellow' as they age, partly due to weathering and partly due to UV-fading of the dyes used in their manufacture. There are ways to accelerate the weathering/aging process, but I wouldn't recommend them in this case because none of them can bring about the appearance of colours that weren't there originally.

All artificially-coloured paving products show a degree of colour variation over time. The flags they churn out this week may have a red fleck, but next week's batch might have no red, and the week after that they may be rather more creamy

This variation is partly intended, so that the customer isn't presented with a pack of identical units, but has a pack of flags that shows variation in colouring and shade, and it's partly accidental in that the blend of dyes and natural aggregates is bound to vary slightly from day to day, week to week.

If you had photos of what you have, and what you saw in the BMs yard, I could hazard a guess at how likely it was for yours to 'weather' to the same colouring as the display units, but without photos, there's not a lot I can do.

Tell me the name of the supplier and/or manufacturer and I'll see if I can find out anything more. If you want to send in photos, I'd be more than happy to take a look.

Tony - thanks for getting back so quickly. I'll try and get photos sorted out. In the meantime, I would be very grateful indeed if you could investigate. I believe the manufacturer is based in Carluke, Lanarkshire (01555) 770555.

With thanks
Martin