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Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 5:15 pm
by papalazarou
Hi all,
I'm just after some advice really. We recently had some extensive flood damage and our patio sat beneath about 30cms of rain water for a couple of days.
When the wate subsided there were many slabs that were very uneven and had sunken in corners etc.
A local landscaper recommended that we rip up, relay the base and then relay.
However, our insurers are adamant that the raised slabs are due to a faulty foundation and therefore outside of their cover.
How they came to this conclusion without even lifting any of the slabs, I shall never know.
In my opinion, the damage was caused when the flood has washed away most of the sand that is directly beneath the slabs.
I know the damage was caused by the flood because the patio was fine until the rains came. On the basis that the patio was fine for 16 years then I have to say it was the flood.
Just wondering if anyone has had similar experience with either this kind of flood damage or insurance problems.
Thanks
Mark.

Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 5:47 pm
by bobhughes
If you lay flags on soft sand then this is what can happen. Presumably it hasn't been floooded before.

Lift a flag and have a look at the underlying base. If it was laid correctly then the contractor would have used a coarse grit sand or a 10:1 sand/cement mix which would have set pretty hard and would be unlikely to wash away.

If you find that this is OK then take some pics and send them to your insurer and ask them to re-consider.