Mitreing sandstone slabs

[andpartington]

Hi I am in the process of laying a Indian sandstone drive. At the front of the house I am building a step.

The plan is to cast a slab of concrete and then lay a slab on the top and clad the sides with cut pieces sound easy. But the slabs have rough edges and a riven texture so I do not wish to leave ANY exposed saw cuts if possible.

So after a lot of thinking
I had come up with the idea of using a mite to fit the tred and the riser together but can not see a way do cut the mitres neatly.

I have a good selection of hand tools and both a 9 and 5 inch grinder but I am also willing to hire a machine that will do the job.

Any ideas whoever small as to how I can do this will be welcomed

Thanks in advance andy

[Suggers]

Ideally, steps should have a minimum 25mm overhang - couldn't your cuts be at both the back and the centre of the step? - leaving the narural edge exposed on the three sides. You've probably looked at this page -
http://www.pavingexpert.com/featur01.htm
Good photies of steps. Maybe a case for laying upside-down? -so edge slopes backwards? - just a thought.
The mitre route sounds a nightmare to me....
All the best.
ps - shouldn't we be in Flags & Slabs?

[mouldmaker]

If I'm correct in my reading, you want to do what I've illustrated in 'a' to give a monolithic appearance. This will only really work satisfactorily where you're using stone with a virtually flat top surface, as otherwise the riven-ness creates an uneven line along the join.


Installing it as in 'b' is more traditional, and makes a feature of the edge rather than trying to disguise it.

[mouldmaker]

Damn. Suggers beat me to it!



Edited By mouldmaker on 1151921288

[Suggers]

Sorry!! - you're the pro....!! - great minds etc.

[mouldmaker]

Sorry!! - you're the pro....!! - great minds etc.

Me a pro?

You obviously don't have a clue about how shallow my veneer of competence is!

I put my underpants on back to front this morning.

[andpartington]

Yes mouldmaker a is what I had come up with I don’t fancy b because the slabs have a natural edge that is not a constant thickness and would give a raged edge

[andpartington]

[quote]Maybe a case for laying upside-down? -so edge slopes backwards? - just a thought.
sounds interesting Suggers tell me more

[Suggers]

I thought your slabs probably had a bevelled edge - sloping back to the underside - sounds like your edge is square though - not much help then.
"the riven-ness creates an uneven line along the join" Mouldmaker makes a fair point there.

[Tony McC]

The usual construction is that labelled "a" in Mouldmaker's sketch, and the trick is to select flags of similar thickness for that leading edge. If you assume that most of these imported flags have an average thickness of 25mm, then by selecting those flags that are 22-28mm thick, you can create a reasonably neat leading edge. Bear in mind that, if you have a typical overhang of 25-40mm, it's almost impossible to see the joint between underside of flag and top of riser unless you can get your eye level down that far.

[andpartington]

hi
i see what u all mean. i will have to think about this one.lucky it will be a week or 2 be for i start the step

[mouldmaker]

Bear in mind that, if you have a typical overhang of 25-40mm, it's almost impossible to see the joint between underside of flag and top of riser unless you can get your eye level down that far.

Depending on how many beers?

[lutonlagerlout]

to be honest andy if someone wants this very neat mitred look maybe natural stone isn't for them,
i did a step last sunday in indian sandstone and i used the same bricks from the house with the slab hanging over 30 mm, obviously you have to look for the leading edges to be fairly consistent otherwise the step will look p*ssed (as tony points out)
the kind of look you are aspiring too is more in place with marble or granite.
hope it goes well for you
regards tony

[andpartington]

hi just a quick up date
did the step the other day with 25mm overhang after I tried to put a 45 on 1 slab looks good but will be improved when the whole lot is pointed

just waiting for the fecking drain men (4TH visit tomorrow) then I can finish off

thanks for thee very good advice
andy

[lutonlagerlout]

just out of interest andy,what base did you use?
i know the indian sandstone retailers round here dont recommend for drives,so i used 150 crushed concrete with 50 mm type 1,then a solid wet bed of 5 parts flooring sand 1 part cement(with 50 ml of pva in each mix) then pointed it up with 6 parts building sand 1 part masonry cement.
so far it seems ok he has had his jeep on it for 2 weeks now and no movement
regards tony