In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| I'd agree a professional paver using sand alone will do a robust job, a
| first time amateur i'd alaway recommend a lean mix mortar to avond needing
| to bed each slap to a firm level.

I wouldn't. When you realise, 6 months later, that you had forgotten
something critical, want to extend the patio, or the patio cracks
(NOT unlikely if the previous one did), you have a major problem.
With sand, you Just Redo It.

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| I'd agree a professional paver using sand alone will do a robust job, a
| first time amateur i'd alaway recommend a lean mix mortar to avond needing
| to bed each slap to a firm level.

I wouldn't. When you realise, 6 months later, that you had forgotten
something critical, want to extend the patio, or the patio cracks
(NOT unlikely if the previous one did), you have a major problem.
With sand, you Just Redo It.

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Tom Redpath" wrote in message
s.com...
Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?
--
Tom Redpath

Tom. I am not a gardener on the plant and seed side. Her out of doors is
that. 'My' gardening is making paths, putting fences up etc etc etc.

We had a dreadful uneven and cracked concrete area outside out new patio
doors. Got a man to come and give us an estimate to make a nice new slabbed
area. He came, looked at it and said 'I will have to bring my mate round to
help me quote. Be back on Tuesday'

I don't know why, but I assumed it would be the next Tuesday. Silly me. That
was last year and he didn't come, maybe he means the corresponding Tuesday
this year;-}

Tom I measured up how many slabs I wanted, had them delivered with some bags
of sand, started in one corner, making up with sand here, and bashing away
the concrete there. Concentrated on one slab at a time. Level this way,
slight fall that way.

The most slabs I laid in a day was 4.

Got it done in about 2 months, bit at a time, including making five brick
steps to take into account of the rise of the land.

Main patio area outside patio door, 8 2'x2' wide and 4 2'x2' deep.

2 steps each of 2 2'x2' slabs wide, slab path of 5 2'x2' and another path of
8 2'x2'

51 slabs

If I can do it with a bad back and arthritis in both knees, anyone can do
it.
(If you are on the Isle of Wight you can come and see it;-}

Mike

"Tom Redpath" wrote in message
s.com...
Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?
--
Tom Redpath

Tom. I am not a gardener on the plant and seed side. Her out of doors is
that. 'My' gardening is making paths, putting fences up etc etc etc.

We had a dreadful uneven and cracked concrete area outside out new patio
doors. Got a man to come and give us an estimate to make a nice new slabbed
area. He came, looked at it and said 'I will have to bring my mate round to
help me quote. Be back on Tuesday'

I don't know why, but I assumed it would be the next Tuesday. Silly me. That
was last year and he didn't come, maybe he means the corresponding Tuesday
this year;-}

Tom I measured up how many slabs I wanted, had them delivered with some bags
of sand, started in one corner, making up with sand here, and bashing away
the concrete there. Concentrated on one slab at a time. Level this way,
slight fall that way.

The most slabs I laid in a day was 4.

Got it done in about 2 months, bit at a time, including making five brick
steps to take into account of the rise of the land.

Main patio area outside patio door, 8 2'x2' wide and 4 2'x2' deep.

2 steps each of 2 2'x2' slabs wide, slab path of 5 2'x2' and another path of
8 2'x2'

51 slabs

If I can do it with a bad back and arthritis in both knees, anyone can do
it.
(If you are on the Isle of Wight you can come and see it;-}

Mike

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.

You need to remember to leave a small hollow under the middle of each
slab, to allow for a gentle tamping down to level.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| Yes and no! Sand alone will not make a secure long term base - it
will wash
| out and ants will move it.

Er, no. See Cormaic's pages. When done right, it will last for
decades and often centuries. For millennia, you need a better
construction.

The ground floors of my late uncle's house were pamments laid on sand,
as were the floors in my parents' place.

I don't know when the pamments were laid, but the houses dated
(respectively) from about 1000 AD and 1500 AD

Personally, I'd use sand.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.

You need to remember to leave a small hollow under the middle of each
slab, to allow for a gentle tamping down to level.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| Yes and no! Sand alone will not make a secure long term base - it
will wash
| out and ants will move it.

Er, no. See Cormaic's pages. When done right, it will last for
decades and often centuries. For millennia, you need a better
construction.

The ground floors of my late uncle's house were pamments laid on sand,
as were the floors in my parents' place.

I don't know when the pamments were laid, but the houses dated
(respectively) from about 1000 AD and 1500 AD

Personally, I'd use sand.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.

You need to remember to leave a small hollow under the middle of each
slab, to allow for a gentle tamping down to level.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| Yes and no! Sand alone will not make a secure long term base - it
will wash
| out and ants will move it.

Er, no. See Cormaic's pages. When done right, it will last for
decades and often centuries. For millennia, you need a better
construction.

The ground floors of my late uncle's house were pamments laid on sand,
as were the floors in my parents' place.

I don't know when the pamments were laid, but the houses dated
(respectively) from about 1000 AD and 1500 AD

Personally, I'd use sand.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

I don't know where you got the idea that laying on sand is for
professionals only. I did it with no more instructions than the
knowledge it was possible. It wasn't hard.

You need to remember to leave a small hollow under the middle of each
slab, to allow for a gentle tamping down to level.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"PK" writes:
|
| Yes and no! Sand alone will not make a secure long term base - it
will wash
| out and ants will move it.

Er, no. See Cormaic's pages. When done right, it will last for
decades and often centuries. For millennia, you need a better
construction.

The ground floors of my late uncle's house were pamments laid on sand,
as were the floors in my parents' place.

I don't know when the pamments were laid, but the houses dated
(respectively) from about 1000 AD and 1500 AD

Personally, I'd use sand.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:31:15 GMT, Tom Redpath wrote:

Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?

There's another approach: view your existing patio as a planting
opportunity. There are certain plants that grow very well in
patio cracks and not very well in nearly any other position.

Nierembergia rivularis is the primary example I can give you.
It's long dead out in the open garden, but in my patio's cracks,
it thrives and goes from strength to strength, with a very long
flowering period in summer, a low mat of leaves stuff the cracks
adorned with large bright-white flowers.


If all you really want is a level patio, another approach is to
lift the slabs comprising the existing one, and re-lay them with
sand underneath to get them level. This retains the cracks, and
may save a fair bit of money as well, though it's not easy work.

(I'm assuming here that you have a patio of poured concrete.)


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:31:15 GMT, Tom Redpath wrote:

Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?

There's another approach: view your existing patio as a planting
opportunity. There are certain plants that grow very well in
patio cracks and not very well in nearly any other position.

Nierembergia rivularis is the primary example I can give you.
It's long dead out in the open garden, but in my patio's cracks,
it thrives and goes from strength to strength, with a very long
flowering period in summer, a low mat of leaves stuff the cracks
adorned with large bright-white flowers.


If all you really want is a level patio, another approach is to
lift the slabs comprising the existing one, and re-lay them with
sand underneath to get them level. This retains the cracks, and
may save a fair bit of money as well, though it's not easy work.

(I'm assuming here that you have a patio of poured concrete.)


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On Tue, 23 Mar 2004 12:31:15 GMT, Tom Redpath wrote:

Good Afternoon, I have not posted here before but as a novice gardener
atemmpting my first big project I would really appreciate some advice.
I have just moved into a property with an old, cracked and slightly
unevenr concrete patio. I want to relay this with flags but am unsure
whether I would need to rip up the old patio, screed it level or simply
put down a good layer of sand to level it off before laying slabs...
Anyone have any hints and tips?

There's another approach: view your existing patio as a planting
opportunity. There are certain plants that grow very well in
patio cracks and not very well in nearly any other position.

Nierembergia rivularis is the primary example I can give you.
It's long dead out in the open garden, but in my patio's cracks,
it thrives and goes from strength to strength, with a very long
flowering period in summer, a low mat of leaves stuff the cracks
adorned with large bright-white flowers.


If all you really want is a level patio, another approach is to
lift the slabs comprising the existing one, and re-lay them with
sand underneath to get them level. This retains the cracks, and
may save a fair bit of money as well, though it's not easy work.

(I'm assuming here that you have a patio of poured concrete.)


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]