The Brew Cabin

Following on from last year's driveway construction (a great success - thanks Tony) SWMBO has decided I'm going to bulid a patio this year :wink:

I've been looking around for materials and we're narrowed it down to a buff coloured riven. Looking at rough prices from Builder Center's website, Marshall's Chancery is virtually identical in price to their Haworth.

Haworth is thinner than Chancery (30 mm vs 45 mm) but if there's no real down side I'd rather have real stone than immitation!

Any views on Haworth vs Chancery for a patio?

Many thanks

Neil

I tend to agree with you - I'd rather have 'real' stone than a concrete imitation, regardless of how good a copy it is.

However, there are plenty of other sandstones on the market that are as good as the Haworth for considerably less money. There are also a lot of sandstones out there that are rubbish, but, generally speaking, if you go with one of the 'names' on the Stone Paving Links page, you should be ok.

I'm not saying there's owt wrong with the Haworth Paving (other than I feel that choosing a "Yorkshire" name is intended to be deliberately misleading) - it's a fine paving, but there are lots of comparable flagstones out there and I think you should review a wider selection before making a choice.

From a construction point of view, both need to be laid on a full bed, and I recommend a 10:1 cement bound grit sand mix as the bedding material. You could get away with an unbound bed of clean grit sand for the Chancery, as it's a surprisingly tough flag, but, with the Haworth, or with any of the other imported sandstones, you really do need the added strength of a cement-bound bed.

Thanks Tony. I realise Marshall's may not be the best value but at least it gives me some figures to start working with.

Cheers

Neil

ONe of your links, Rock Unique, is not far away from me so I'll go and have a look at his stone at the weekend. Apart from testing the corners, is there anything else I should be looking for/ asking about when I'm there?

Cheers

Neil

Tell them I referred you and they'll make sure you don't get pissed around. :)

I was on the 'phone to their top man, also called Tony, this afternoon - if you want to see his face turn a lovely shade of puce, tell him this Tony has told you that they have a job lot of 420x420mm Raj sandstone that they want to shift! ;)

Their stock is, generally, of a good quality and I don't have any problem recommending them.

Thanks for the info! I'll let you know how I get on...

Neil

SWMBO and I had a look at a few imported stones and have a couple of options. Unfortunately there didn't seem to be anyone around to talk to, but I've got the day off on Thursday so I'll go back then, if I have time.

Neil

Where did you go, Neil?

Ah, sorry. We went to Rock Unique. They are about 10 miles down the A21 from us.

Now obviously, I don't know too much about stone, but they had some reasonable demonstration areas, and I had a good nose around their yard. As I said, I hope to go back on Thursday to have a chat with them.

Neil

The Raj is very nice (and very popular), but make sure they have all the sizes in stock. When I spoke to them last week, they had run out of the essential 560x275mm size, which is critical for making decent looking random layouts.

Don't forget to tell 'em you're a refugee from Pavingexpert! :)

My wife liked Raj, but I preferred Mango. These are the 2 options we're looking at currently. I'll be sure to tell 'em you sent me :)

Neil

Have you considered Old Yorkshire Street Flags, or Old Lancashire Mill Flags from Westminster Stone (www.westminsterstone.com) - or their LivingStone natural stone products?

Nice site - I'll have look at your products before making a final decision.

Neil