The Brew Cabin

Hi
Can anyone say anything about SteinTec products.
They seem to exceed BS 7533 .
If you read their site their materials seem to be superior to straight cement sand bedding and jointing mortar. I am particularily interested in bedding and jointing setts.
(the hot asphalt jointing method seems very interesting but I am worried about melting on hot days ,childrens fingers digging it out and smell -or is all that not a problem?)
I read some earlier negative comments on this forum about Geofix jointing. Does this fall under the same category or is this the stuff to use.
I guess they cost a lot more though.

Markb

I've personally never used SteinTec mortars, but from what I can glean from their literature, they are nothing special - there's a number of other mortar and jointing products that are just as good. Exceeding the requirements of BS7533/7 isn't all that hard, actually. A typical Class II, 4:1 mortar exceeds the basic requirements!

These specialist mortars are useful on large, public projects, where higher-than-average traffic loads can be expected. I've seen them used on private driveways and I'm not convinced that they are necessary. I'm absolutely certain they don't provide 'best value' for a typical driveway - in fact, I'd go as far as to say that I'm not convinced they provide best value for anything other than public highways subject to regular vehicular traffic - that's when they really come into their own!

Have you asked the price? Make sure you're sat down before they tell you!

The 'hot asphalt' jointing you mention is a great method for jointing low-traffic sites, and, provided you use one of the modified bitumens specifically developed for sett jointing, there's no real problem with it melting or softening in the summer. Bitumen has moved on somewhat from the days of our youth when you could force lolly sticks into the 'pitch' on the hottest days of summer. It's also more cost-effective than most of the specialist mortar jointing materials.

As for GeoFix, this stuff should NEVER be used with sett paving that will be trafficked by vehicles. It's just not up to the job. It's main pronblem is that is does not bond to the paving: it just bonds to itself, creating a 'plug' of material to fill the gap between adjacent setts. As soon as any shearing forces (twisting/turning forces) are applied to the setts, the GeoFix flicks out, and allows the setts to shift.

For a private driveway, I'm still happy to recommend a site-mixed coarse mortar for jointing (and for bedding). I like to see pitch used for jointing, as I believe it looks better and performs better than rigid jointing, but there are circumstances where a rigid joint is preferable. To date, I've not come across a private driveway that warranted the use of a high-strength specialist mortar, either for the bedding or the jointing of setts/cubes.

Hi Tony
Looking at your bituman sealing page again I think you have talked me into it.
What would be your ideal semi dry cement mixture be .

Do you recommend a wacker plate on the bedding before laying the stone and again after as some of the mortar suppliers recommend?(I will be using half thickness setts )

Thanks
Markb

For bedding, you could use a ST1 mix, which is roughly 1:3:6. I know some contractors, and some projects, use a stronger mix, say 1:2:4, but I'm not convinced this is always necessary for residential driveways. However, it's always better to err on the side of caution and I'd be happier using a mix stronger than 1:3:6 than one that is weaker.

For the jointing, a typical mortar joint would need to be Class II (4:1) as a minimum.

Use of a plate compactor depends on the laying method. I've found that using a plate compactor to consolidate setts laid onto a screeded bed only really works with tight joints. If you have any sort of gap, as you would with mortar or bitumen jointed setts, the plate rattles them out of line and you lose the patterning. In such cases, individual laying, one sett at a time, is the only way to go.

"Bitumen has moved on somewhat from the days of our youth when you could force lolly sticks into the 'pitch' on the hottest days of summer."

Hah, I thought it was the summers that were hotter then! :confused: