Page 1 of 1
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 2:05 pm
by Jonah
Hello again,
Went over to Midland Slate and Tile at lunch today and had a look at some of their flags. They don't sell to the public, but do sell to our local Buildbase builders merchants. I especially liked the Raj Blend colour they had.
So I trundled over to Buildbase and asked for a price. They quoted me £229.91 (inc VAT) for a pack of Raj Blend which covers an area of 12.6m2. That works out at a nice £18.25 per m2 for what looks like some nice quality stone.
Strange thing is though, that MST stated their mixed pack covers an area of 15.26m2 (and gave me a laying pattern) and Buildbase state 12.6m2. Do you think they split packs and make up their own, or someone putting data into their database forgot to put a '5' in the area coverage and ended up with 12.6 instead of 15.26? If it is a typo, then it's more like £15 per m2 :laugh:
Also, can anyone comment on these flags and if that's a good price?
Thanks.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 3:39 pm
by Jonah
Ignore the bit about pack sizes. Their brocure states they do a universal mixed pack which covers 12.60m2.
Slab size (mm) Qty per box
560 x 280 13
560 x 420 7
560 x 560 10
560 x 700 5
560 x 840 7
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:35 pm
by lutonlagerlout
i had a feeling most packs were about 12-13 m
unless you follow their pattern exactly you wont get 12.6m
there is always a cut somewhere
for a 20 m patio i would allow 2 packs on the premise that some flags will be unusable due to triphazards or being badly outsized
i have about 10 m of various sandstones in my garden waiting for someone who wants a really rustic budget patio or path 
LLL
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 6:50 pm
by Tony McC
I designed that "pattern"!
Quality is OK and represents good value for money. Raj blend is NOT the same a Raj Green: it's a mix of Rajpura Green with other browny/buffy flags from other quarries. Only a saddoe such as meself would probably spot this, but there is noticeably less of the olive green colour in "blend" than there is in all-Raj.
There's a shade over 12.1m² is you were stupid enough to lay the flags tight-jointed with no gaps at all, but by the time you factor in a 12mm joint, that increases to around 12.57m²
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:26 pm
by Jonah
Thanks for the gen on the flags both. I recognised some of your text in the brochure Tony, specifically the laying info. I like the look of the flags and think I'd be hard pressed to get the same quality for a similar price locally.
As a novice, the pattern specified for the pack looks simple enough to follow. Would I be better off buying individual flags based on a pre-worked out pattern for smaller areas rather than trying to get all the flags from a pack to fit? The least wide paved area is approx 1.5-1.6m wide. I know the module of these flags is 140mm so 1540mm fits in there nicely with space for 12mm between each stone. The lawn will be partitioned off from the paved area with new softwood sleepers once complete, so I have to factor that into the finished dimensions.
Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 9:22 pm
by Mikey_C
The gaffer does a random layout service, as detailed here , which although I haven't used "(yet)" comes highly recommended. If you end up using the pack that he clearly has experience of you may do worse than to spending a few quid with him, especially as you seem to want to include a semi circle in your design.
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:17 am
by Jonah
I was seriously thinking about using Tony's random layout service as it'd save me a lot of head hurting. I've ordered a copy of his book so I'll give that a thorough read before I get the shovel out. I also need to do some accurate measuring and draw a decent picture of how the layout is going to be. I'll need one anyway to send to Tony for the pattern design.
I'm not going to incorporate a semi-circle in my new layout. I'm extending that semi-circle and making it a larger, squarer patio.
You can see where the new patio and paving boundaries will be in the photo below:
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:30 am
by Rich H
Here's the very thing. This is Pavestone's Raj Blend with circle kit. The setts are generic buff from Peppard Building Supplies, but they match well.
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 8:42 am
by Rich H
And per your other thread here are photo's showing the old 5-blob/5-bob patio and the prep with a 100-200mm MOT Type 1 sub-base - the 200mm layer where we had to dig out fluid clay.
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:02 am
by matt h
keep the photies coming.eager to see the results. good luck:)
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:11 am
by Jonah
Nice one for the Photies Rich. The finished job looks really peachy. Cheers for sharing them.
I've just emailed the photo to the missus at work. She seems to be sold on them too.
What's that yellow paint you have used for marking? I could use some of that to help mark out where we want the new layout to be. What's it called and where can I get some?
The existing flags we have at the side of our house are 3'x2' basic concrete jobs laid when the house was built and covers about 11m2. I'm not going to spend out on Indian sandstone for that area as it's more of a utility area used for dumping compost bags, the wheelie bins etc and is pretty much out of sight. So I was thinking of getting some basic flags to go down there, but would like them to look ok next to the Raj blend. Does anyone know what I might use down there?
I'm *HOPING* the concrete flags down the side of the house have been laid properly and I can just lift them, replace the mortar and lay some new flags down there. They're good and solid and level, but I doubt they've got a type-1 sub or suchlike.
This photo of the raj blend with the black pointing looks good too. Not sure about going for a dark or buff joints.
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:19 am
by Rich H
It's linemarker spray, available from any bm. No paving goes with sandstone, except sandstone. The council slabs are probably laid on a lean mix screed. If they're solid and out of view, why take them out?
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:33 am
by Jonah
I'll pop out at lunch and get some of that linemarker spray then.
It's the missus who wanted rid of the council slabs. I'm ok with them being there. I've just phoned her and explained what you said and she's come around to the idea of leaving them there. So thanks for that! I told her we could put up a gate or sommat up to block any view of the area at a later date.
As for photies .... When I get a start on the work I'll take photos and post them here to show progress.
Cheers!
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:26 pm
by lutonlagerlout
get rid of the council slabs jonah,if you dont do it now it will bug you for ever
LLL
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 7:59 pm
by Rich H
