Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
![]() |
|
UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
|
LinkBack | Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
![]()
Posted to uk.d-i-y
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
Our house has a patio of stone slabs (slightly irregular size, shape and
thickness - not rectangular concrete slabs). They seem to have been laid on bare earth, as far as I can see from looking into the gaps, without levering up a slab to look. Some of the mortar "grouting" between the slabs has cracked and disintegrated, so I'm trying to re-mortar the broken bits. I've removed the broken bits and brush away as much of the powder residue that remains. I'm using ready-mixed mortar from B&Q, with water added to form a stiff paste which is thick enough to adhere to a palette knife so I can direct it into the gap (typically 5-20 mm) and then tamp it down with my fingers (wearing rubber gloves in case the cement causes skin irritation). I then use the hosepipe to spray a fine mist over the sections every few hours (given that it's hot and sunny here) so it has enough water to cause the cement to set. But some sections never set: even after a couple of days the mortar can be rubbed away in a powder of sand and cement. Other sections have set rock solid. The colour of the dry mortar varies from slate grey where it's set to almost white (maybe with golden sand granules on top) where it remains powdery after several days. I've tried various alternative techniques to the stiff-paste consistency: - adding a bit more water to the mix so it's a bit more runny, and letting it fall off the palette knife into the gap, building up the level gradually and then tamping it down to make it roughly level with the slabs - filling the section with dry ready-mix and then spraying a mist of water over to start the setting process: repeating the misting every few hours I've checked that all the dry powder is thoroughly wetted, to avoid dry sections. No technique seems to give better or worse results. Sometimes sections set, sometimes they dry to a firm dust that can be rubbed or washed away. I don't know what the proportions of sand and cement are - just the standard mortar mix. I'm making up small batches of a few hundred grammes of dry mix, mixed in a plastic bowl, so as not to make so much that it has started to set before I've finished the painstaking job of tamping the mortar into the gaps. Should I try soaking the ground through the cracks that I'm about to fill, to prevent the water in the mortar leaching into the ground before it has had chance to set the mortar? I don't need it to be a perfect job, as long as there are no longer gaps that weeds can grow through. |
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Forum | |||
Alternatives to cement for grouting slabs round pond | UK diy | |||
Re-pointing Between Patio Slabs | UK diy | |||
Large Gaps between Patio Slabs | Home Repair | |||
Filling in gaps between patio slabs | UK diy | |||
Prevent weeds between patio slabs | Home Repair |