Garden path base

[Bromley86]

I've got a very small DIY job - just 8 x 450mm 30mm flags to bridge the flowerbeds where I've installed a gate in a fence run.

It'll be very light, infrequent foot traffic, so I expect the Bradstone guide 6:1 ballast/cement should be fine (looks like a stronger version of the lean mix on this site).
http://www.aggregate.com/PageFiles/1796/Laying%20patio.pdf

I had a few questions though. The first was does it matter that there's a 100mm wide channel of concrete separating the gateposts to stop them falling inwards, so there's be two types of sub base, with the lean mix on both sides of the concrete separator?

The second is would it matter if I used a moist-mix concrete as the base itself? The ground is compacted grey clay and slopes down towards the gate ~15cm in 1m, as well as sloping left to right about double that, so I thought a "proper" concrete base might be more solid. I plainly have no idea about the relative strengths of a semi-dry and a moist mix, so apologies for that. If doing this, do you have to wait for the concrete to set some before slapping the bedding mortar on?

Finally, the Bradstone guide uses building sand for the mortar, but the slabs/flags pages here opt for sharp sand. Emphatically. Sharp sand it is then?

Thanks in advance.

[London Stone Paving]

1. Dont worry about the concrete strip holding up the gatepost. Just lay the base either side of it and the concrete strip will form part of the base. The traffic will be so light.

2. Either of the base methods you mentioned will be ok. Obviously a concrete base would be stronger but its not critical in this situation.

3. whichever base you opt for, let it go off for a day then lay on it

4. Sharp sand is better

Hope that answers your questions

[Bromley86]

Cheers LSP. Perfect.