I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
Any suggestions?

wrote:
I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the
colour of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
Any suggestions?

Natural soft sand & cement with no dye. Looks FAR better. the dark would
snag the eye too much]

pk

On 19/7/05 11:12, in article
, "
wrote:

I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
Any suggestions?


All this is personal taste but I'm with your partner. I think the unbroken
line of one colour will be more harmonious and soothing. The darker
pointing will give a 'busy, chopped up' effect - less relaxing to the eye
and after all, sitting on the patio is all about relaxation. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message .com
from contains these words:

I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
Any suggestions?

Listen to your partner. If possible, pretend that tasteful matching
grouting was your idea all along. Do not sulk in the shed .


Janet

In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:
| The message .com
| from contains these words:
|
| I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
| paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
| of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
| Any suggestions?
|
| Listen to your partner. If possible, pretend that tasteful matching
| grouting was your idea all along. Do not sulk in the shed .

Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear. Please will you promise not
to change your mind and then blame me for the decision?


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Ok, I think I will admit defeat on this one and go with the idea of a
colour similar to the actual slabs.
I don't know why I even bother cos' she always wins when it comes to
decisions on colour and design and then sits back and watches me do the
hard work!

Has anybody any tips on what dye to use etc, I've seen some dye in
Wickes described as 'buff' but the powder looked very yellow, it's
probably not an indication of the final colour. Guess I could try it
with some broken bits of slab first to see what it looks like.
ps. Is soft sand the same as bricklaying sand?

wrote:
Ok, I think I will admit defeat on this one and go with the idea of
a
colour similar to the actual slabs.
I don't know why I even bother cos' she always wins when it comes
to
decisions on colour and design and then sits back and watches me do
the hard work!

Has anybody any tips on what dye to use etc, I've seen some dye in
Wickes described as 'buff' but the powder looked very yellow, it's
probably not an indication of the final colour. Guess I could try
it
with some broken bits of slab first to see what it looks like.
ps. Is soft sand the same as bricklaying sand?

The colour of your mortar will be influenced by the sand you use. If
that's about the same shade as the slabs, you won't need any dye --
remember you'll be using a weak mix. It'll blend still more with age,
too. If the sand's the wrong kind of colour, yes, experiment first:
those cement colourings can be fierce.

It won't really matter which sand you use, but mortar's generally
made with what builders call "sharp sand", which isn't what's called
the same thing in garden-speak.

One thing to decide is if you want any little plants between the
slabs: if so, you can leave a few small gaps. I've tended to overdo
this in the past, and ended up with a complete mess after a few
years: most times, I think I'd probably do without now.

--
Mike.

The message .com
from contains these words:

Has anybody any tips on what dye to use etc, I've seen some dye in
Wickes described as 'buff' but the powder looked very yellow, it's
probably not an indication of the final colour. Guess I could try it
with some broken bits of slab first to see what it looks like.
ps. Is soft sand the same as bricklaying sand?

You adjust the colour with the amount of dye - and I expect 'soft sand'
means 'hoggin'.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

'Hoggin'? What does this mean?

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:

Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear. Please will you promise not
to change your mind and then blame me for the decision?

Listen to the voice of experience!

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:


In article ,
Janet Baraclough writes:

| Listen to your partner. If possible, pretend that tasteful matching
| grouting was your idea all along. Do not sulk in the shed .

Yes, dear. Anything you say, dear. Please will you promise not
to change your mind and then blame me for the decision?

I blame you for letting the cat out of the bag. I bet none of the
urglers had ever guessed our secret.

Janet.

The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:
The message .com
from contains these words:

/snip/

Any suggestions?

Listen to your partner. If possible, pretend that tasteful matching
grouting was your idea all along. Do not sulk in the shed .

No-one's allowed to sulk in the Shed - be a little grumpy, mayybe.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 19/7/05 13:15, in article ,
"Jaques d'Alltrades" wrote:

The message
from Janet Baraclough contains these words:
The message .com
from contains these words:

/snip/

Any suggestions?

Listen to your partner. If possible, pretend that tasteful matching
grouting was your idea all along. Do not sulk in the shed .

No-one's allowed to sulk in the Shed - be a little grumpy, mayybe.

It's a good idea to apologise just in case, anyway.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message .com
from contains these words:

I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
Any suggestions?

Quite apart from my instinct that she is right in her choice of shade,
you must realise that if you go ahead with your plan, you'll never hear
the last of it...

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

wrote:
:: I'm in the process of laying a new patio and myself and my partner
:: can't agree on what colour pointing to use.
:: The paving is Marshalls Chancery paving in Honeydew colour which is a
:: buff/blonde/yellowish colour. The design of the paving edges
:: neccessitates a 1-2cm gap between each slab.
:: I think we should go with a dyed dark colour to contrast with the
:: paving but she thinks we should use a buff colour similar to the colour
:: of the paving or use a natural grey mortar colour.
:: Any suggestions?

The suggestions so far all seem to point (excuse the pun) towards using a
natural sand & cement mixture, yet your reply timed at 12:43 says 'OK I'll
go with a coloured dye' etc.

Personally I'd go with a natural mix, mortar dyes don't work, at least not
for any length of time, they bleach with the sun and worse still, this is
rarely a uniform process, patches which are sheltered by walls and fences
etc which receive no bad weather will remain bright yellow while other
patches of it are 'natural'.

There's a picture of some here, pointed in natural sand/cement mixture...I
would reccomend ordinary red building sand and OPC mixed at a ratio of 4:1.

http://www.marshalls.co.uk/transform...ry_paving1.jpg

I lay drives and patios for a living and can tell you straight that nothing
looks worse than coloured pointing - it *never* looks right from day one and
then gets steadily worse.


HTH

--
If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs.