The Brew Cabin

Posted: **Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:32 am**

I've looked through the website and studied T McC's book, but being a novice (DIY), could I check a few things.

I am about to lay a drive of granite setts. The drive will mostly take occasional light traffic but there will occasionally be a 10 ton + truck.

I have prepared a Type1 base which is a little over 200mm below finished level. The setts are 100mm deep, mostly 100mm cubes.

I'd be grateful for any advice on:-

1. What mix to use to lay the setts. And what wetness is recommended?

2. What grout to use - the leading contender seems to be Romex (D2000), but other possibilities are Lithofix 20 and Easipoint Granatech. Any experience on pros and cons, in particular ease of use?

3. All of these seem to recommend a depth of grout of 30mm. How should I fill the joint up to this level? With gravel, or would sand be OK?

4. The setts are fairly uneven, so the joints will be as well, but any views on what width of joint in general looks best. About 15mm?

???

Posted: **Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:10 am**

you need to lay them on fairly dry concrete, 100mm is tight if your gonna have the occasional lorry i would err towards 100+mm
any kind of romex is gonna cost an arm and a leg ,can you not slurry it or fill the joints with bitumen(pitch)
you can fill with gravel up to 30mm,but i would go for 20mm joints
LLL

Posted: **Tue Aug 26, 2008 12:08 pm**

Mix needs to be at least C20 equivalent. You can choose a slump that best suits your working practice, but I prefer a drier mix as its cleaner and gives extended working time.

Jointing: personal taste. I've recently uploaded a whole new section on jointing stone pavements and linked it in to the rest of the site over the weekend, so you may not have seen it. Well worth a read because it covers all the methods used to joints setts, and examines the pros and cons of each.

Partial filling of the joints depends on what jointing material you choose. Angular or sub-angular 6mm hardstone gravel is a popular choice, but it is incredibly important to ensure that you do get AT LEAST 30mm depth of jointing material. Attempts to save a few quid by using more gravel and less grout often end in dismal failure. The reliability of the jointing is absolutely critical to the long-term performance of sett pavements.

Keep joint width to a minimum - you want to see the stone, not the bloody jointing. We would typically aim for 9-12mm.

Posted: **Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:16 pm**

my bad

when doing crossovers i was always taught to do 20 mm joints so that the pointing got right in there.
also if the setts are a low grade keeping straight lines with 10-12 mm joints might be a toughie
cheers LLL

Posted: **Thu Aug 28, 2008 9:26 am**

Thanks to both for the advice - just what I needed.

I've looked again at the section on jointing. I'm tempted to go for bitumen, but am a bit worried because the drive slopes quite steeply and where vehicles (including trucks) turn, they do so using power steering so that wheels turn on the spot.

As regards a resin based solution, I've had Lithofix recommended to me, as being cheaper than Romex. Tony, I see Lithofix is not among the recommended ones on the website - is this because there have been some poor experiences, or just that there hasn't yet been enough experience of it?

The Brew Cabin

Laying granite setts