The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Fri May 02, 2014 10:32 pm**

Hi
Can you give any advice on following
Moved home, inherited dirty black 300mmx300mm paved back yard about 50ft x 20ft. Powerwashed and pavers are actually cream! with 15mm gap between pavers with mortar. A fair bit of the mortar is gone replaced by soil,muck,moss etc to the depth of the paver. All crap now cleaned away but have gaps everywhere, probably 1/5 of the yard is mortarless.
What is the best option here-
Can I mix sand and cement dry and pour into gaps carefully,brush, water and run small trowel over when hardens up a bit. If so
What mix ratio
Polymeric sand or building sand

Or is this a bad idea. Just filling with polymeric sand will be leave very obvious colour differnece as in some parts 3-4 foot of mortar is gone. Thanks for any help

Posted: **Fri May 02, 2014 10:43 pm**

Dry mix is crap and will fail within 2 years at the absolute best more likely in 3 months.

I think you are unsure what a polymeric sand is, it is not a type of sand but a jointing product with a hardener mixed in. you do not mix them with anything.

Either use a polymeric jointing compound or mix up some sand and cement the old fashioned way and trowel and strike it in.

Plenty of in depth info on the main site

jointing

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2014 1:30 pm**

personally it depends on what finish you are looking for! I might be tempted to try a small area with the polymeric you are planning on using (again my personal choice marshalls weatherpoint 365) and see how it matches with the existing pointing.

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2014 1:38 pm**

Had walk about pavers and area to be filled is worse than thought and about 50% of the slabs need filler. Had a look through site and like the mortar pointing gun option cos way too much for a trowel and I'd prob spend more time sponging excess off than trowelling.
Dumb qst but what is the platiciser/fairy liquid method required for using these guns. Is it added to the water and then mixed with dry sand,cement. Is much needed?

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2014 11:03 pm**

Plasticiser helps add workability to mortar.

If you had 2 batches of mortar with exactly the same recipie and the same water quantity the one with plasticiser would move more freely than the one without it.

In a pointing gun this helps massively as it will flow better out of the gun.

You simply add it to the water you are using to mix with.

Instructions will be on the bottle for quantities

Posted: **Sat May 03, 2014 11:22 pm**

OK thanks for info.
Think I'll get a Mortar Gun and might make this job that bit handier.
Cheers

Posted: **Mon May 05, 2014 8:56 pm**

i would buy a specific gun mortar, rather than mix your own.

The Brew Cabin

Advice from the pros needed