Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:54 am
I have a partially shaded back yard of circa 45m² area which I previously excavated 18" before laying a Type 1 MOT sub-base and then laying 20mm of granite dust originally intended for laying artificial grass.
The lower black horizontal gravel boards are approximately double the visible depth and were haunched into thick concrete, following the excellent guidance on this website, before the sub-base was laid.
Those gravel boards are not perfectly horizontal but were laid to run parallel with the lower edges of the existing fencing, which was fitted unevenly by undoubtedly the worst cowboy contractors in Wales.
I would now prefer to lay flagstone paving slabs rather than artificial grass and so would like to add another 10-20mm of the appropriate grit sand and screed it to a level finish with a 1:60 gradient.
This yard is clearly an unusual shape and will be paved edge-to-edge despite being unlikely to receive any footfall whatsoever over the next 10-20 years, but I nonetheless want to do this job properly.
Weeds are a problem due to airborne debris from adjacent gardens, which caused me to abandon the artificial grass idea in favour of flagstones or block paving, which should be more weed-resistant.
Due to the overwhelming difficulty of getting an even semi-competent local contractor to provide a quote, let alone be trusted to do an remotely passable job, I will be doing all work myself.
1. Would either 600mm flags, 400mm flags, or block paving be the most sensible way to go here all things considered, in terms of cost, technical difficulty and level of work involved?
2. If laying flagstones, once circa 10-20mm grit sand is laid, will screed rails still be necessary and appropriate, even though I will have no way of walking around the edges?
3. Would there be any other options for levelling the sand using traditional screeding methods before I then lay material starting at the back with no perimeter access?
Thank you
The lower black horizontal gravel boards are approximately double the visible depth and were haunched into thick concrete, following the excellent guidance on this website, before the sub-base was laid.
Those gravel boards are not perfectly horizontal but were laid to run parallel with the lower edges of the existing fencing, which was fitted unevenly by undoubtedly the worst cowboy contractors in Wales.
I would now prefer to lay flagstone paving slabs rather than artificial grass and so would like to add another 10-20mm of the appropriate grit sand and screed it to a level finish with a 1:60 gradient.
This yard is clearly an unusual shape and will be paved edge-to-edge despite being unlikely to receive any footfall whatsoever over the next 10-20 years, but I nonetheless want to do this job properly.
Weeds are a problem due to airborne debris from adjacent gardens, which caused me to abandon the artificial grass idea in favour of flagstones or block paving, which should be more weed-resistant.
Due to the overwhelming difficulty of getting an even semi-competent local contractor to provide a quote, let alone be trusted to do an remotely passable job, I will be doing all work myself.
1. Would either 600mm flags, 400mm flags, or block paving be the most sensible way to go here all things considered, in terms of cost, technical difficulty and level of work involved?
2. If laying flagstones, once circa 10-20mm grit sand is laid, will screed rails still be necessary and appropriate, even though I will have no way of walking around the edges?
3. Would there be any other options for levelling the sand using traditional screeding methods before I then lay material starting at the back with no perimeter access?
Thank you