Picture framing - Whats the solution

[Dangerdoc]

Hi to you all,

OK new on here. I have been looking around and have had several answers. Then found this forum. Great !.

I was asked to help a friend re-point his patio (he is old and his hands are wracked with arthritis) so I said yes I would assist.

He had all the kit, knew what he wanted and I just supplied the working hands.

When finished we had repointed a small patio with a wet mix (a proprietry pre-mixed just add water mix).

When mixed mainly the mix was quite dry but some were wet as he had trouble operating the trigger nozzle on the hose and did not want to add more mix to absorb the water. As it was his garden and his kit, I just got on with it.

The joints were quite deep and about 10mm wide. All in all not a hard job but ... there is always a but...

1. What is the best solution if picture framing occurs?

and

2. What is the best solution to remove surface marks from dropper mortar blobs etc... once dried?

These are probably pedestrian questions to the experienced members and I respect that but for us novices who help out an occasional friend they are important.

Can I just say that he did have some builders come around and they just said the job was too small. The area was 3.7m x 3.4m

Your guidance and recommendations will be very much appreciated.

Doc

[r896neo]

Its not really picture frame staining in the true sense which is almost impossible to remove and caused at the time of actually laying the paving.

In your case its probably simply cement staining on the face of the slabs. Follow the guidelines on this page

http://www.pavingexpert.com/stains.htm

Pay particular attention to the warnings regarding natural stone!!

[lutonlagerlout]

doc a picture says a thousand words mate
if you could upload one we can advise better
I dont understand the job being too small for a builder?
I like doing small jobs SAS style in and out in a day
LLL