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Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 6:53 pm
by cl66
Hi all
Newbie here, I had my patio completed last week. Sandstone in fossil mint. I loved the colour as it was laid. Once pointed it looked a bit different with the cement brushed across but still basically the same. I hosed it down a couple of times over the weekend (just standard hose) and the colour is totally different. And the water was running a rusty reddish brown almost like I was washing the colour out of them. They now look bleached and all very similar whitish pale shade
I'm waiting to hear back from the company, but anyone know why this happened? Could they have added something to the cement (antifreeze or quick dry solution) which damaged the slabs as the excess was brushed over??
Really appreciate any input. Ill try and upload pics
Thanks!
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:21 pm
by dig dug dan
There should not have been any cement brushed over the slabs. Alarm bells are ringing here. Did they mix up a dry mix and brush it in to the joints, or did they use a proper jointing compound, or wet mix?
Edited By dig dug dan on 1394392932
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:24 pm
by cl66
It was a wet mix they pointed by hand but excess was brushed off. I'm trying to upload but the link from photo bucket won't work.
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:25 pm
by cl66
I have no idea what it was though
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:33 pm
by r896neo
To be honest i have had a customer tell me exactly this before only to find that they did not realise how light the colour would be when it dried.
Couldn't say for sure without photo's but the difference can be very marked and surprises many people.
Somewhere i have some photo's of the patio in question both dry and wet.
The reddish water may have been dust from the reddish ones as they get very dusty when in a crate.
Of course i'm not saying there is no problems so if you can try the photo's it should be clear if there's anything out of the ordinary
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:34 pm
by cl66
Really trying to upload pics without it bing a link to my whole photo bucket account
They were dry when laid so I don't see why they would all fade out so much.
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:37 pm
by sy76uk
It sounds to me that you have some temporary surface staining. Hand pointing is a tricky job and if any dust was brushed across the surface of your stone some of it would have been left in the pours. What your looking at now is a fine film of dried out cement. It should weather out.
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:55 pm
by mickg
if your having trouble uploading photos email them to one of the moderators or I will up load them if you want
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:56 pm
by cl66
Let's ty this
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 7:58 pm
by cl66
And this
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:00 pm
by cl66
Then today
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:13 pm
by r896neo
In my opinion it looks mostly normal but perhaps exacerbated by a bit of a cement haze and a few stains here and there.
It would weather away in time but perhaps a light acid wash would be worthwhile to speed it up.
Its always hard to tell the extent in photo's and obviously would need tested on a small area first and the pointing would need to be a week or more old before you could use it.
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 8:33 pm
by cl66
Thanks for the reply. Should I keep hosing and brushing it until water runs clear and then see what it looks like. It's just it's so different and I was told by the guy that once hosed it would go back to the colour in the un pointed pic
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:16 pm
by lutonlagerlout
those flags dont look like fossil mint to me
more like modak rose
however it all looks fine
lovin the fake grass and white steed 
LLL
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2014 9:50 pm
by London Stone Paving
Its fossil mint alright. It looks perfectly normal. As NEO says, a little bit of residue is left from pointing. Pointing looks a bit messy but apart from that its ok