Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 9:32 pm
Hi
I hope some one can give me advice please. I appreciate there's the archive section and I've checked but I'm not to sure on the terminology so I thought I might as well ask in my own 'language' -if you know what I mean.
I had a patio laid a couple of weeks back with Eygptian Sandstone (?) I think its called -its the sort of slabs that's cut from a quarry and not manufactured and the guy that laid it - it was a 'government job' if you know what I mean - has been hard to get hold of, laid it on what I believe is called a a dry mortar mix - gritty sand with concrete in (I guess) that hardened after 24 hours, with kiln dried sand brushed into the joints to finish.
Anyway I noticed a few were making that empty sounding thump when you step on them in your bare feet and you can see them move up and down by a couple of millimetres.
A few are right by my patio door into the garden, so like a squeaky floorboard, once you know its there, its hard to just forget about.
So I made the stupid mistake of lifting one, thought it would be easy just to brush some of the mix in the middle into the corner and that would sort it out, and like the idiot I was I made it worse.
So my question is how do I put it right?
Do I take it out, dig a bit down and fill the square hole with concrete and lay it (making sure its level of course)?
This wouldnt have been a real problem for me if one side had been flat - because both sides are uneven I'm struggling to imagine how you get it right - my instinct tells me to squash it into a bed of wet concrete and let it worry about getting in the gaps.
Or do I rent one of those rubber gavels and make up a small dry mortar mix and try and level it out?
Will the other ones get worse over time? What shall I do with the others that are pretty stable, but just have a slight rock - leave them or repair them - following the methods you pro's will hopefully describe for me?
Please bear in mind I'm a complete amautuer but with the right tools and a bit of help I'm pretty ok at D.I.Y.
Two other things - when its wet it looks great, but dry it looks pale - is the MN Intesifier the best product to use? And the kiln sand is hacking me off- keeps getting blown out - what other cheap ways are there to fill the gaps permanatley - bear in mind that some of the gaps are really tight - I'm talking only a couple of millimetres apart here?
Many many thanks for any advice you guys can give me in advance.
I hope some one can give me advice please. I appreciate there's the archive section and I've checked but I'm not to sure on the terminology so I thought I might as well ask in my own 'language' -if you know what I mean.
I had a patio laid a couple of weeks back with Eygptian Sandstone (?) I think its called -its the sort of slabs that's cut from a quarry and not manufactured and the guy that laid it - it was a 'government job' if you know what I mean - has been hard to get hold of, laid it on what I believe is called a a dry mortar mix - gritty sand with concrete in (I guess) that hardened after 24 hours, with kiln dried sand brushed into the joints to finish.
Anyway I noticed a few were making that empty sounding thump when you step on them in your bare feet and you can see them move up and down by a couple of millimetres.
A few are right by my patio door into the garden, so like a squeaky floorboard, once you know its there, its hard to just forget about.
So I made the stupid mistake of lifting one, thought it would be easy just to brush some of the mix in the middle into the corner and that would sort it out, and like the idiot I was I made it worse.
So my question is how do I put it right?
Do I take it out, dig a bit down and fill the square hole with concrete and lay it (making sure its level of course)?
This wouldnt have been a real problem for me if one side had been flat - because both sides are uneven I'm struggling to imagine how you get it right - my instinct tells me to squash it into a bed of wet concrete and let it worry about getting in the gaps.
Or do I rent one of those rubber gavels and make up a small dry mortar mix and try and level it out?
Will the other ones get worse over time? What shall I do with the others that are pretty stable, but just have a slight rock - leave them or repair them - following the methods you pro's will hopefully describe for me?
Please bear in mind I'm a complete amautuer but with the right tools and a bit of help I'm pretty ok at D.I.Y.
Two other things - when its wet it looks great, but dry it looks pale - is the MN Intesifier the best product to use? And the kiln sand is hacking me off- keeps getting blown out - what other cheap ways are there to fill the gaps permanatley - bear in mind that some of the gaps are really tight - I'm talking only a couple of millimetres apart here?
Many many thanks for any advice you guys can give me in advance.
