The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:40 pm**

I have a house in the Pyrenees mountains close to the spanish border. I want to replace some dodgy crazy paving (crazy in terms of the way it was done) with a patio built with large local slate slabs of around 30mm - 50mm thickness.

I have two questions.

One: When I build the base layers I want to use not sand but what we here in Wales at least call "duff". This is a very fine stone dust. Can I use this as I would use sharp sand?

Two: I want to lay the slabs in a dry mix of cement and duff and allow the moisture to set it. What I'm concerned about is that in the summer it can be more than 30C and in winter it can be -20C and we have three months of snow. What can I do to allow for expansion and contraction of the joints? This by the way is what makes the existing job look so crazy...

Thanks for any advice.

Huw

Posted: **Tue Aug 15, 2006 11:32 pm**

i take it the house is built on rock??
i worked in spain in 1987 doing odds and sods and we generally used sand and cement in a wet mix,the cement there seems very strong and the sand is quite sharp
this duff you speak of sounds moody ,go with the tried and tested method mate
as for temperature extremes if the base is rock i cant see what the problem is,stone doesnt expand or contract that much,or your house would collapse,the original is probably just shoddy
regards tony

The Brew Cabin

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