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Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 9:52 am
by mercurystar999
Have been looking to re do my back garden and have come to the conclusion that i'd like to put some natural stone down. Have been looking around locally and it's coming out at about £17 - £19 a square meter. Now for the area i'd like to slab is about 40 sq meters so that's going to cost a small fortune!
I've come across some stone that has been laid for about two years for which has had to be lifted due to a change of circumstances. I've been offered it for £400 and would like to know first if it's a reasonable price and secondly if it was worth buying second hand stone or just plumping for new?
What should i look out for with the stone regarding damage of poor quality.
Thanks Neil
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 10:02 am
by lutonlagerlout
in theory stone will last a lifetime
in practise there are a multitude of factors
I wont lay second hand stone/slabs unless its on day work
chances are there are big clumps of cement stuck to it which can be a pain to remove
also is there any cement on the flags from the pointing?
lastly are there many cuts? you probably wont be able to use these cuts
also some may have been chipped or cracked when they were lifted
personally i think £17-19 per metre is good value,i know 800 quid hurts but decent carpet or tiles cost a lot more than that
cheers LLL
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 11:03 am
by Mikey_C
i have to agree with mr lout, £17-£19 is a good price. laying time will be increased. are you laying it yourself or getting someone in? if you want to reduce the cost, do some or all of it yourself?
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 3:02 pm
by mercurystar999
Was going to lay myself. So only because of the increased installation time would it not be a good idea? I suppose i haven't actually checked the sides of the stone but she has said its in excellent condition and like new. From the photo's i have seen they look good. One thing i never thought about was the cuts, they have been up against straight walls though so there shouldn't be any strange cuts.
Was looking at slate tiles too. Any ideas on why the thickness varies so much? Spoke to a bloke off ebay who was selling slate 10 - 12mm thick for external use. The other places i have looked have been 20 - 25mm thick. Would them being so thin be ok?
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 3:50 pm
by GB_Groundworks
mercurystar999 wrote:bloke off ebay who was selling slate 10 - 12mm thick for external use. Would them being so thin be ok?
no, they'd crack or delaminate and be useless
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 8:46 pm
by mercurystar999
Another reply i have had regarding Brazilian slate:
Good question...Brazilian slate is a very strong and dense slate and perfectly suited for our UK climate. At 10mm +/-2mm this is a tile format. As long as the slate is fully supported across its entire area it is the same as if you had this inside your home i.e. kitchen, hallway etc... The reason other slates in the main cannot be used this way is because most Indian and Chinese slates are too soft and don't have the technical properties that allow it to be used in this format outside. The other reason is cost...Brazilian slate at roughly 20mm thick would cost almost double the price. If you look at it this way, you don't use very thick slate in an internal environment and yet you have more foot traffic. The actual construction is the key, ideally lay using flexible adhesive onto a concrete base will give the maximum suppot and strength.
Hope this helps.
Is there such a thing as flexible adhesive for external use?:rock:
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 11:22 pm
by Injured
From those pics it looks like they were laid upside down. the clean side that I can see is actually the bottom of the paving. I would just buy new.
Posted: Mon May 31, 2010 11:24 pm
by GB_Groundworks
i concur with injured
Posted: Tue Jun 01, 2010 7:55 pm
by mercurystar999
That has decided it then.
What about the response i had about the slate? Brazilian better which means it can be thinner?
