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Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 11:06 am
by Zaffy
Crazy slate for crazy money.
£9.75ms + vat + del.
There must be a drawback.
Slipper when wet? Uneven? Difficult to lay? Cracks? Splinters?
The project: 80 square metre front garden, semi, 1940/50, local authority housing. Good incline running away from house.
Plan to transform half concrete half peashingle on mud to a parking area with peashingle drainage boarder. 60 square metres crazy slate, 20 square metres peashingle.
Quotes for concrete pavers so far from 6k to 12k. A lot of money to have my garden look like a garage forecourt.
And granite or York - double the price.
If I have professionals lay the foundations, I could do the crazy slate myself.
Am I crazy?
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 11:51 am
by London Stone Paving
Totally bonkers mate 
Points are answered below and have added some input as well.
1. Should not be too slippy.
2. Might be a bit uneven (especiallly after you have laid it )
3. Will be difficult to lay for a diyer.
4. Could be quite thin, defiantely check the thickness with your supplier first
5. Splinters, not really
6. Could be loads of small unusable pieces in there. Check with the supplier first
I would tread very carefully. Its a very finicky job for a diyer and also at 60m2 a big job as well. It might end up looking very naff. There is also the element with it being for a driveway as well which means it really should be installed by somebody who knows what they are doing. Slate can also be a nightmare to install because it does not bond as well as other types of natural stone.
My advice would be not to do it.
Verdict: CRAZY
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 2:30 pm
by Zaffy
Thanks, thought as much.
Take me out of the equation and supplant professional and maybe not so crazy?
But then maybe not so cheap?
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 3:18 pm
by London Stone Paving
Its all down to taste but IMO 60m2 of crazy slate paving would look naff whoever laid it.
You say its cheap but if you go on the internet you can find brand new Indian Sandstone for as little as £12 per m2. Wont be the best quality in the world but if you upped your budget a bit further to £15 or £16 per m2 you get could get some decent quality stone.
Also If I was a landscaper and someone asked me for a quote to lay 60m2 of crazy slate paving or to lay 60m2 of Indian sandstone I can guarantee the quote would be much cheaper to lay the Indian Sandstone. What you save in material costs on the slate crazy paving you would probarbly lose in paying additional labour costs to lay the stuff
Let me know where your based and i will try and reccomend a decent supplier local to you
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 4:30 pm
by Carberry
I would say 60m2 of crazy <any type of paving> is crazy for a DIYer. It takes a lot of patience to fit all the pieces together so you have even sized joints and to make it look good.
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 5:36 pm
by lutonlagerlout
theres a reason why its cheap
theres 3 billion tonnes of it lying on welsh hillsides that no one wants
unless its 30-400 mm thick i would go near it and even then you would have to prod me with a sh!tty stick
verdict: pencils up nose underpants on head, way out there
CRAZZZZZZZZY!
LLL
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 8:15 pm
by Zaffy
Thanks everyone, probably won't go anywhere near Welsh slate now but in its defence :-
I think it is a lovely product and more suited to the UK than Indian slate. I also wonder how Indian slate would fair in a different climate. Carberry you mentioned even sized joints. I don't think that is what crazy paving is about. This website mentions joints as close as possible but 'even' would be impossible and out of sinc, surely. All above is a layman's opinion, so I wait to be bombarded.
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 8:38 pm
by London Stone Paving
There is no doubt that Welsh slate is far superior to Indian Slate ( not a big fan of Indian Slate, its very poor quality. I bought a container of it 3 years ago and I've still got 3/4 of a container left. Would not dare sell it. Will probarbly put it on ebay soon but dont expect to get much for it) but what you are talking about is just all the crap and leftovers. Get yourself down the Welsh Valleys. Like LLL says there is literally mountains of the stuff as far as the eye can see
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 9:38 pm
by Zaffy
Thanks to everyone for the advice, of which I shall follow, but probably won't go to Wales too busy having a major re-think.
Posted: Fri May 13, 2011 11:18 pm
by lutonlagerlout
crazy paving done correctly is by far the most expensive form of paving bar gold leaf
done on the cheap it looks just that
LLL
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 12:08 am
by Zaffy
It seems there is no cheap fix for a drive. I would have plumped for peashingle if it were not for the incline.
For those who dislike slate take a look at the photos on this website, you might change your view.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 11:07 am
by Carberry
Zaffy wrote:Thanks everyone, probably won't go anywhere near Welsh slate now but in its defence :-
I think it is a lovely product and more suited to the UK than Indian slate. I also wonder how Indian slate would fair in a different climate. Carberry you mentioned even sized joints. I don't think that is what crazy paving is about. This website mentions joints as close as possible but 'even' would be impossible and out of sinc, surely. All above is a layman's opinion, so I wait to be bombarded.
I don't mean bang on even like joints like a brick wall or something but the majority of crazy paving that you see the contractor has been lazy, not been paid enough or not been skilled enough to get all the pieces close together so you end up with some joints almost touching and in other places you end up with joints the size of post it notes which just looks ridiculous.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 11:29 am
by Dave_L
Crazy slate driveways look great in the 3ft digging bucket bring loaded away on wagons........
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 11:33 am
by Zaffy
Carberry, totally agree. That is why I thought I would attempt it. I love jigsaws and I have plenty of patience, can fiddle about for hours, unfortunately no other skills to support it. I tried googling part-time training for crazy paving but found nothing.
Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:43 pm
by Zaffy
Dave_L wrote:Crazy slate driveways look great in the 3ft digging bucket being loaded away on wagons........
Dave, that's exactly what I feel about concrete pavers. Fit only for, buckets, bins, petrol forecourts, diy stores, supermarkets and local amenities.