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Not a DIY job I have done before. My parents want a few slabs in a line down the side of the house. At the moment its stones in a thick layer on top of weedproof membrane and the soil underneath pretty well compacted I think. I was thinking just to scrape off the stones and lay the slabs on top of mortar blobs on top of the weedproof membrane. Its only going to be for them walking down ie no real weight.
will that do?
They tried to get a pro in to do it but were quoted the Milngavie pensioners rate of £1500 to supply and lay 10 slabs - and that was only to be done as I suggest!
I'm not a professional so someone may come along and give better advice but I would use a wacker plate on the stones (if they're deep enough) and the use a full bed of mortar on top. I believe mortar dabs are a good way to get moisture underneath your slabs. I do tend to DIY like Brunel though so this may not be the quickest/cheapest method.
Set a string line to follow and you can measure from the line to the ground to gauge how much mortar you will need in each spot. Four blobs of mortar in each corner, one in the middle and lay the slab on top. Set down level with a rubber mallet. Take your time to get the first one right and the rest should go down easy.
What size of slabs? I have a mix of 2x2 and 2x3ft slabs. All laid on a bed of 2" compacted sharp sand> All fine years later. Sand compacted by walking backwards over it. As long as the existing soil is well settled it should be OK. Also Milngavie as it happens. Either way, mortar blobs or sand PM me if you want a hand for an hour or two getting the slabs down.
Tell me about Milngavie pricing. Our central heating quote from a local company was £2k higher for labour.
I'd say, don't get caught like Fred and Rose West did after their patio laying.
Agree with irc, but a few details are important:
1: success of sharp sand as a base depends on soil type. Oh! He’s in the same place!
2: success of sharp sand as a base depends on size of slab. Proper 24” heavy slabs, you’ll be great on sharp sand. Anything smaller will need a better sub base etc.
3: what a kind offer to help. Big slabs are good but hard work.
IRC - doing it tuesday daytime with my dad - he is only 88 so we should be fine and I guess you work in the day but you might get that PM. Ta
I think the slabs are 2x2. My folks have already bought them and had them delivered along with a couple of bags of premix mortar
I don't think compacting the stones will work without a lot of sand - they are those round yellow stones and quite big and on top of a weedproof membrane
Ta for the string tip - I hadn't thought of that
Edit - ta for that Gunz - I am pretty sure its concrete slabs not stone they have bought
Another vote for sand.
As it happens I'm off Tuesday. I agree sand straight onto gravel may not work. Mine were on bare compacted soil. Clay subsoil so not much movement and the sand didn't migrate.
I have a decent sized estate if required for getting rid of a few bags of stones etc or picking up a few bags from Kelvin Timber.
You could probably do 2x2s with your dad. A few of mine were the 3x2ft 2" thick council slabs, They are a bugger doing solo.
I was intending to scrape the stones away and lay the slabs onto the weedproof membrane that is under the stones on mortar blobs. Any disadvantage to using mortar? Is sand better? The stones are very loose and move around
Yo shouldn't have told me that IRC! Very kind of you. Ill see how we get on. With a combined age of 150 between me and my dad we might need a young one to help!
As others say, whack it down, sand it and mark out the area to be covered by the slabs, mortar blobs always reminds me of half arsed tradespeople who can't be arsed to level it off properly by preparing the ground properly, to be fair it would work for you in a smaller style patio, but times i've seen it are on big new estates where they're just trying to make it presentable quickly and not too worried about longevity.
its just a single line of slabs 8 or 10 of them. Not a patio. Ground under the weedproof membrane is well compacted the stones will remain around the slabs - its just to give them a path they can walk on without tripping. At the moment the stones are around 2 m wide all down the side of the house and they just want a line of slabs down the middle of the gravelled area. LOongevity might not be much of an issue given my parents age 🙂
Ta muchly folks.Food for thought
I redid our garden path the "proper" way with a full mortar bed. I also put some slabs down the side of the house on just MOT sub base and sharp sand. These are 3' x 2' and have a 4" gap between them, with the gaps and surrounding the slabs are filled with gravel.
Individually they are still solid, and seem level to each other (the 4" gap hides this though)
Just to confuse things 🤣 I would probably choose crusher dust on top of the loose stones and compress with a heavy tamper.
Are they going directly against the side of the house? May need to ensure slabs are sufficiently lower than the DPC.
NO - there will be 70 cm or so of existing gravel then the slabs
If only there was a paving expert.
Dabs of mortar can go wrong and end up looking shit.
Fill your boots on that site
Ta Josh!
Pavingexpert ftw
If you go down the route of laying indian sandstone, do yourself a favour and make sure to use an SBR slurry too glue the slabs to the muck.
Its not connected honest!
I wouldn’t try to whack rounded stones. They just won’t lock together. Remove them as you were planning to.
I would remove the membrane, rake the ground flat, and re compact. Then replace the membrane if you want it.
And proceed with mortar or sand (my preference is always sand, then sprinkle cement over the bed.
Thanks. According to my dad the soil under the membrane is well compacted and flat
As a functional bodge for a slab path in gravel (so it was nice in bare feet) I have just raked the gravel aside until I reached compacted soil, chucked down sand and leveled it, laid the slabs and raked the gravel back against the slabs. Lasted about 9 years at our old house.
Yes I am aware its not the correct way to do it, but all it cost me was time, as the rest was lying about the garden.
MoT type 1 as sub base then mortar the slabs in. Resin based pointing to keep the slabs in place.
Don't attempt this if the area is in full sun. (Had to relay my slabs after one day as the sun caused the mortar to set too quickly and not adhere to them).
Done. Bodgers work not pro but Iam pleased. Dadconned me. More slabs than i thought
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That looks really nicely done actually, give yourself a pat on the back.
Just needs a bit of hazard tape on the trip hazards😂😂. Decent job, I bet Dad is happy👍
Excellent effort.