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Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:34 pm
by MCP
I'm looking for some sandstone in a light buff shade at around £15 to £20 per metre. I saw the Bradstone sandstone at B&Q and nearly every slab was delaminating. I also visited the local paving yard and saw some Stonemarket Trustone Glenmore which looked much better quality but oh it's pricey at £35 per metre.
I saw on an earlier posting here that the same Glendale stone is sold by StoneFlair at considerably less. This fits my budget so I'm after info about this product. Having looked at the two, the Stoneflair is no longer sold in the same sizes as the Stonemarket. It is sold in sizes and packs identical to the Bradstone. Can somebody please let me know,
is the quality of the stoneflair product similar to the Stonemarket?
Are they both tough enough to last decades of ice, snow, rain and sun without layers of stone crumbling away?
Is the bradstone as bad as it looked?
should I be looking at something else?
I am located in Oxfordshire.
Thanks for any advice you may be able to give.
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:20 am
by bobhughes
MY advice is to buy the best you can afford unless you are doing up to sell. You are going to be looking at it for a long time after the money is a faint memory.
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 12:27 am
by MCP
Thanks for your reply....
Whilst I totally agree with this, I don't want to spend £35 per metre if the same flags are sold for £20 under a different name.
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:14 am
by lutonlagerlout
to be honest mate theres not a lot in it,if you look at the crates they are all the same,you always seem to get 1 or 2 flags per crate that is heavily riven both sides or a bit of de laminating has occured
in my own house i went for yorkstone (reclaimed) pricey but the slabs are 2-5 inches thick and they have been here for a long time
no one really knows what will happen to all the imported stuff 20 yrs down the line
cheers tony 
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:47 am
by David Sarti
There is considerable variation in the quality of imported Indian sandstone; as there is with any natural stone.
I'm not looking for a wave of sympathy here, but it is true to say that the majority of importers are not making a great deal of profit on these products. The market price for the bottom-end material barely covers the landed cost in the UK and so there's not much incentive for anyone to do more than the bare minimum. The premium material is another case altogether. (I will declare an interest here- I do work for Marshalls)
You really do get what you pay for in this case. The higher priced material tends to be thicker and more consistent on colour and dimension - although there are always exceptions. It is selected from the extracted material, whereas the cheaper product is not to the same degree.
If it's a DIY project then this is less relevent, but for an installed project bear in mind that the paving is only a proportion of the total cost of the job. A few quid more on the materials can be a low percentage increase in the total project cost.
I would expect the Bradstone and Stoneflair product to be similar if not identical as they use many of the same sources. The better-known suppliers have a track-record of importing material from established sources over a number of years and carry enough stock to cope with the difficulties posed by an extended supply chain; thus their costs are marginally higher. If you're just buying for one project with no plans to extend in the future then make your own judgement on what's available locally - but I'd want to look at every crate before taking delivery. Caveat emptor as always I'm afraid.
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:26 pm
by lutonlagerlout
fair comment david but i have never seen indian sandstone thicker than 40mm over a whole slab
and while i have your ear ,how come when i bought 7 heritage calder browns, 3 of them cracked while being laid???
when you are paying £8.50 a slab it kinda puts you off when over 30 % break with marginal force
i know its noit your fault but i wanted a rant lol
cheers tony 
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:15 pm
by MCP
Thanks for the helpful pointers...
So It looks like the consensus is that you get what you pay for - As with most things. The reason I was doubting this general rule was looking at the improted stone page on the main site which quotes that price is not necessarily an indicator of quality.
If it's generally the best way to judge how durable the flags are likley to be then I suppose I'll be buying the stonemarket at £35 per metre.
Still grateful for recomendations though if anyone knows of a stone that is as good but cheaper.
Cheers Mike
Posted: Sat Aug 26, 2006 9:25 am
by ABILITY
Mike.
Generally the Stonemarket ( Marshalls ) indian stone is thought of as the cream of the crop. Thus the higher price.
Stoneflair and Bradstone - same stuff, same company. Generally better than others have to offer
We tend to favour Stoneflairs stone for higher quality jobs, ususlly bit better than the various other cheaper slabs about.
Having said that its a matter of checking the actual crates / slabs there is so much about at various grades and prices.