Paving eyesore - Faulty paving

[KKeeney]

At the end of January I paid quite a lot of money for paving to be laid to the rear of my property, the paving agreed with the landscape gardener was to be dark grey and he in fact showed me pictures of a garden completed recently with the paving been constant colour throughout and dark grey. After a few weeks and with the weather being constantly wet I hosed the slabs down, when they dried out to my horror they were different colours throughout, some being a buff light grey and others having dark grey parts to them, I have since March had a constant battle with the company who laid them as they are saying its a manufacturing issue, the manufacture is situated 7 miles from me and although I have been to see them I am getting the impression that I am being fobbed off by them as well as the landscape gardener. I do have pictures which I am quite happy to display to enable an opinion to be voiced. I believe that as the customer this should be rectified by the company who laid the slabs but he is now stating that its nothing to do with him. Having saved a long time for this work to be done I am looking for advice on where I should take this as I am not prepared to accept the works on the basis of the quality of materials used.

[Kuts]

Some pics would give us a better idea. What type of paving is it?

[KKeeney]

Sorry, all I know is that is is dark grey rippled effect and the material cost for them was 500, I have pics but I can not see how to upload them on here.

[Dave_L]

Sorry, all I know is that is is dark grey rippled effect and the material cost for them was 500, I have pics but I can not see how to upload them on here.

How to upload photos to the forum

[KKeeney]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oknz772pa2ajwdk/MmuQb507Xn

[KKeeney]

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/oknz772pa2ajwdk/MmuQb507Xn

I've checked this link and it works, should open up to Dropbox, thanks to anyone that can advise me on this

[KKeeney]

Sorry I forgot to say highlight and right click will then open in new browser immediately showing pics. Yes for my sins I'm female, but thanks for looking.

[lutonlagerlout]

hi Karen

Karens patio

has it looked like this from day one?

the patio looks fairly well laid and pointed but I guess the slabs are concrete?

time to name the product please?

LLL

[lutonlagerlout]

also where does the water fall to when it rains?
those planters need a saucer otherwise they will stain your slabs
not keen on sleepers mixed with patios but landscapers love it

it may just be efflorescence the markings

LLL

[KKeeney]

Thanks for your reply, I don't know what the paving was called all I know is that it came from Coxhoe Manufacturing near Sedgefield, I paid for the supply and fit of slabs and sleepers so I had no involvement in the purchasing of materials. The water drains towards the house on a gravel bed, with it being a new build quite a lot of the garden had to be dug out. Point taken about the planters but to be honest they cant stain and make the paving look any worse. Yes it was like this from day one but due to being fitted in the winter and the wet weather I did not notice until they dried out. Yes the patio has been laid well its just unfortunate that its looks so unsightly.

[Tony McC]

What you have is the well-known phenomemon of differential curing. It is disappointingly common with wet-cast flags which have been improperly stacked in the curing chamber, with the result that the outermost edges cure at a different rate than the centre.

There's a bit more about it here

As that page suggests, time may see a reduction in the difference, and/or a colour enhancer or sealant might help.

Because the problem is one of aesthetics and not a structural fault, you are at the mercy of the supplier as to whether they will offer replacements. If the "landscaper" bought and supplied the flags as part of the contract/agreement, then your beef is with them, and it is for them to take it up with *their* supplier, be it a merchant or the manufacturer.

You have a slightly stronger case against the landscaper, as you relied on their "professional" recommendation for the flags, whereas the manufacturer or a merchant is merely a provider.

The magic words "Trading Standards" whispered in the ear of the landscaper might spur them on to make a more realistic offer of settlement.

[KKeeney]

Thank you, I am going to send a letter outlining my dissatisfaction with the finished product to the Landscape Gardener and take it further if necessary as I am not prepared to accept the finished product after paying 2500 for the works and hope that he takes responsibility.

[lutonlagerlout]

yes, its a little unsightly for now,
but in fairness I feel you have 2.5ks worth of work done there
there are a multitude of things that can happen to slabs/flags and block paves
on the scale of it yours is not that bad

maybe try and reach a compromise with him to seal the patio?
good luck
LLL

[sy76uk]

I have to agree with the above TBH. I think what might have happened is that when the slabs have been delivered they were wet or damp. The contractor has then laid the slabs whilst they are wet and no ones seen what they look like dry until the jobs done.

It's happened to me a few times with block paving. Not so much with slabs but having said that I have a couple of samples of bradstone panache in my back garden that come in at £30 odd per m2. They're charchoal and look almost black when they're wet but when they dry out they're a lot paler, more or less a pale grey.

It would be a hell of a lot of work for a contractor to rip that lot up and start again for nothing, especially if he get's no joy from the supplier and has to buy new slabs out of his own pocket.

Please excuse my spekking mistakes. A happy client gave me a bottle of JD today and I'm making the most of it

[KKeeney]

Hi, thanks for your replies, can I confirm are you saying that in time they will all turn dark grey and be a constant even colour as they were meant to be, even the ones with no dark colour in? yes it is unsightly to look at and i'm struggling to get the contractor to offer a solution even though he has confirmed that he would not have laid them had he had the foresight to see them when dry.