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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 8:05 pm
by wynyard
Can any one inform me if Howarth Moor Natural Stone flags are resonable quality for a budget stome flag; suitable for a patio? Also (Tony if I have missed this on your site then please be forgiving!) do you have a calculator for this product, I have read your site and do not see one. I am happy to pay you for this and I have engaged a builder to do the work though it has taken a great deal of effort to get hold of one.
regards
davidB
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:12 pm
by Nigel Walker
Marshalls Haworth Moor Natural Sandstone Flags are not a budget flag.
You can get a similar quality and style of paving for half the price.
I have used it on a couple of projects. The client insisted.
They were ok to lay and they looked good, but they are definetly not value for money !
You say that you have got a builder to do the work. From experience, builders do not make very good pavers.
You are better getting a Paving specialist who does this kind of work every day.
Nigel
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2005 9:55 pm
by wynyard
Thank you for your very speedy help. I am not fixed to buying Haworth Moor and not when you say I can get the same quality of flag for a great deal less money: can you suggest where from, as I have been unable to find the "reasonable priced" stone mentioned on this site over the internet or from merchants that I have contacted?
I take your point about builders and paving contractors. I have had real problems getting a builder and when I eventually did he has done a very good job. By contrast the paving contractors I have come into contact with all appear to be cowboys and I have little confidence in engaging one of these. I have no confidence that I would be happy with the resulting work and if I wasn't it would be more expedient to pay the bill in full than attempt to have them correct their work. Some of the people I have come across seem to be itinerant travellers with no fixed base, only mobile phones and so not much hope of any satisfaction if this go wrong! A bit like the ole "Tarmac gangs" who used to offer to do your drive as they had a spare load left over!
Regards
davidB
Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 4:18 pm
by InfAddict
As the small print in the Marshall's brochure says, "Haworth Moor does not denote place of origin". In other words, this stone is not from a moor but is imported indian sandstone from a quarry in India somewhere. The Haworth Moor range is graded by Marshall's as their top notch original sandstone product and is therefore priced accordingly.
As mentioned by previous posters, most local stone suppliers can supply imported sandstone and may well be cheaper than Marshalls. However, beware of cheap imports that are thin and poor quality.
I'm currently laying a indian sandstone patio and have used Marshall's Indian Sandstone range. Its not in any brochure but several major BM's can get it. After speaking to several Marshall reps, this is quarried from the same place as Haworth Moor but is outside some of the tolerances required for it to be branded Haworth Moor. The cost was 25% cheaper than Haworth Moor and a bit of ringing around between BM's got me another 20% of that price. Having inspected my delivery it looks good to my novice eye. Of course, how any Indian Sandstone fairs against the temperature ranges between a UK summer/winter is anyones guess.
Good luck 
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:18 pm
by wynyard
Thank you for your help. Having priced up local stone in the North East I have not been able to find stone as cheap as this Haworth Moor, which I work out to be only about £28 m2 but then again I may have not worked this out correctly. This is less than some of the Marshall manmade copy flags. So I cannot see why to lay the reconstituted flags in preference to real stone?
Regards
davidB
Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2005 9:45 pm
by Tony McC
1 - you should be able to source a damn-near identical imported sandstone to the Haworthistan Moor for around 18-20 quid per m² plus VAT, even in NE Eng-er-land. Have you tried some of the suppliers listed in the Links section?
2 - Calculator - I don't provide a calculator for the Indian sandstones as, when I did, some thieving bar steward of a supplier in Lower Britain nicked it and used it on their own website. The stupid git didn't even have the brains to strip out the "code copyright Tony McCormack" notice, and my pet lawyer made mincemeat of him. So, rather than allow every little tin-pot supplier and garden centre use my work for their own gain, I removed that particular facility and it now only available on request. I wish it wasn't that way, but such is life - there's always one pillock willing to spoil it for everyone else.
3 - Reconstitued stone vs natural stone: I don't get it either. This week I have been in discussion with a client who told me, with a straight face, that they had chosen a particular concrete repro flag (and not even one of the better ones, at that!) because it "was more realistic". !!!! :0
I had my eyes tested last week, and for a crippled, diabetic, dickly-tickered wreck of an ex-contractor, the eyes are just about the only bit of my body that can actually pass muster, so I can only assume that the client was visually impaired or had recently undergone a frontal lobotomy!
Posted: Fri Jun 17, 2005 4:52 pm
by wynyard
Tony thank you for your reply
1) I did try a couple of links from the site one in Stardrop, Darlington and the other at Richmond, both relativly local, both quoted me prices higher than the full priced Haworthmoor. Due to pressure to actuall get the work done I have now had the contractor order the stone as I cannot afford to lose a slot on his very busy schedule.
2) I fully understand and the world over there are all ways people on the make who take and never give. However, having ordered the Haworth Moor the supplier (Jewsons) have supplied 6 diffrent layouts. I have to say they all look the same to me but the builder says he can see a diffrence and suggested the one with the least amount of repeat!
3) There are some people you cannot help; I find that there are more and more of these and where once I would have taken the time to explain I now just leave them to it as they never appreciate your help anyway.
4) for all your ills you have put together a brilliant site and I keep recomending it to all sorts of people.
Regards and keep it up.