The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Fri Jul 15, 2016 10:43 pm**

hi paving experts,

i have been having some paving problems with my builder and found the information here excellent. thanks!

one thing i wanted to ask about was this.

our builder used spot bedding (and butt joints) on our granite paving 12 months ago when he installed it. we are trying to get him to relay the slabs now.

looking at pictures from that time, i can see the tell tale damp patches on the paving soon after it was installed.

however, now when the paving starts to dry out, the spots dry out first with the remainder of the slabs staying damp.

some before and after pictures here -
https://goo.gl/photos/R59PF9odr9etsfNP9

any idea what is going on?

cheers,

colm

Posted: **Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:23 am**

See this page

Posted: **Sat Jul 16, 2016 10:00 pm**

Tony McC wrote:See this page

Thanks Tony.

The curious thing for me is that what is described on your reflective stain page and what I've seen before are wet spots caused by spot bedding.

Whereas what we get are spots that dry out more quickly than the rest of the slab.

Colm

Posted: **Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:18 am**

this makes me so angry
what did he save by spot bedding?
1 tonne of sand and 5 bags of OPC?
and ruined the lot

LLL

Posted: **Sun Jul 17, 2016 12:30 pm**

lutonlagerlout wrote:this makes me so angry
what did he save by spot bedding?
1 tonne of sand and 5 bags of OPC?
and ruined the lot

LLL

yes; it makes us even angrier!

... and looks like it will be battle to get him to relay it all. the best offer from him so far is to relay some of it (the main patio area in the middle photo) on a full bed with close but not butt joints.

some of the other problems we have to deal with are -
1) he used sand for wide plinth/boundary wall/AJ joints and this is permanently damp near gullies and has scoured away in many locations. could he repoint these with mortar?

2) a lot of slabs have dropped in toward the house so are no longer falling away from it. would this be due to inadequate compacting?

colm

Posted: **Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:09 am**

Spot bedding will not be in accordance with the supplier's installation guidance, therefore your contractor has failed to comply with best practice and would be liable to re-lay the lot.

But, as many of the flagstones will now be permanently buggered, he's also liable for the cost of new paving.

It doesn't sound as though he has the requisite skills to do the work correctly, so I'd be looking for him to cover the cost of bringing in a competent installer as the only certain way for you to get the pavement for which you've paid.

He can agree to this or take his chances with the courts.....

The Brew Cabin

Spot bedding + damp patches reversal