Chuck Banshee wrote:
On Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:58:18 -0500, dadiOH wrote:

If you are buying concrete, why do you want sand and rock? If you
are buying bags of *cement* you would need the sand and rock but
you'd be far better off economically buying it by the yard from a
purveyor of same. _____________

I'm not sure if I'm using the words right.

I'm buying 'stuff' to put UNDER the flagstones and 'mortar' to put in
the joints above.

I'm getting rather confused here. You are laying the stone on an existing
concrete slab, right? You want something to hold it to the slab, right?
That something is mortar. Could be Type N mortar...could be Type S
mortar...could be thinset but they are all "mortar". When you put mortar in
joints, it is called "grout". (For tile with very narrow joints, the grout
is just cement, see below).

I guess that's 'cement' but I'll look up what 'concrete' is (because I
thought they were one and the same). Mea culpa.

Cement is burned limestone. It winds up as a grey powder. Mix it with
water and there is a chemical reaction that makes the powder hard again.
Not very strong, though. Mix sand with cement (along with some lime) and you
have mortar. Still not all that strong. Mix in aggregate - various sized
crushed rock - and it is concrete. Strong as you can get with cement.

For what you are doing, you have absolutely no need for cement unless you
plan to use it to make your own mortar and/or concrete. I doubt you are and
if you are, I suggest you don't.

--

dadiOH
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