Re-laying 2ft's.. any advice

[Manc]

Hi,
This is a great site, thanks for all the effort.
I am thinking about re-laying a patio at my parents house. I worked for a landscaping firm for a couple of years so consider myself... errr...semi pro.

After reading your site i was embarrassed to find that spot laying wasn't suitable for any patio.... I have mainly done block paving, but the flagging i did do was with the old spotting...
Anyway, I decided to put a coldwater pipe / tap in for my mums veggie garden, which involves lifting a line of 7 flags, no problem i thought, but walking around i noticed lots of rockers, crumbly pointing and several dips... the flags here have been spotted too so i thought i'd fit the pipe and re-lay the whole patio.... its around 63m2 (i think!), or 170 2ft flags? (i actually measured up 3 times & got 3 answers..but split into sections & think its right now?)

Will i be able to re-lay on the existing sub-base? I am hoping most flags will lift fairly easily without pulling the ground up, just thro' what discrepancies i can see and my limited experience.

I was plannning on doing the 10:1 grit/cem mix and give the flat bed laying a try... is it difficult?
At 1st i was hoping to just re-spot them and do the whole patio in sections over a few weeks (on my own on days off), i now realise it would be better to do the whole lot on sand/cem, but they dont want it up for several weeks.
I work 4 on 4 off shifts. Can i still do it in sections on the flat bed? (pointing each b4 the next section and of course leaving a line out b'tween sections as the bed has to extend past the flag!))

Do i need to screed a layer of sand like my block paving, before putting a bedding layer of 10:1 mix on top?
Or do i just put the right amount of mix down like spotting?
I havn't lifted any flag yet to see how deep it is or what ground is like...dont really want to start till i have to...

goddam garden tap has opened a right can of worms eh?
it was just - fit tap, re-spot 7 flags and point up... now its weeks of work on my own

Any advice would be appreciated
Thanks

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

Hi Manc, generally the best way to do this is "properly", short cuts have their price. So 1st option, check details on this site and take the time to do it correctly. Having said that, and assuming the flags are the precast concrete Same Thickness type, you will find - lifting them , some will have ground and side wall grout attached, so they will have to be lifted, cleaned and packed in a neat and accessible area. It might pay you to power wash them before lifting them. you will have to redo the base, as you will surely find grass/tree/bush roots, cavities and sunken areas. If the original base is of a good sand, you might be able to recoup of it, mix it with new sand, relay and compact. Assuming foot traffic only you should get away with a 6 thr 8 to one sand cement mix, at least 75mm thick, dampened and compacted to about 50mm, then screeded smooth. On to this you would tamp down your paver, checking lines, levels etc, and then grout. You can work in sections, take your time and be careful. Preparation is your best friend.