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We have a patio area roughly 9 x 9m and there are a few places where the grouting/jointing compound is loose or missing. The slabs are textured natural stone and the joints are about 15mm wide. Previously I've used the stuff pictured with mixed results to repair bad patches. Pros - it's easy to use, it's a good colour match with the original grout. Cons, it's expensive and wasteful, as I don't actually need that much. Also, it doesn't seem to last too well as it's mainly the areas I have previously repaired that need doing again. Any suggestions for something different to use? Dry sand and cement mix perhaps?
Also watching with interest - I'm far too embarassed to contemplate using my patio for any photos of bikes as I'd (rightfully) be hauled up about its condition.
I’m far too embarassed to contemplate using my patio for any photos
Same. I cleared it of barbecue, furniture etc. yesterday and cleared a load of invading shrubbery off it. But it still needs a jet wash and good scrub!
Don't forget to allow for some settling as the body underneath gradually diminishes...
☺️ thanks for the tip! ⚰️
Some pics. Be kind!
I’ve used Joint-It brush in grout on our patio and it seems to be good stuff and easy to apply.
Ive used that sikaflex stuff before and it ws ok. I found the setting sand they make to be far better as it was easier to get into gaps. you needed a lot more though.
I sell that sika filling sand at work. Does get mixed reviews, I think it is batch / age / user dependent. Some come back lumpy or even turned into a block . It does come in dated and although it should be , product probably isn't rotated correctly.
We also sell no nonsense jointing sand which is a direct competition line . The difference being, to date , I have had zero complaints it. In fact some people rate it above the sika
We also sell no nonsense jointing sand
Is that Screwfix 'no nonsense'?
Worrying number of us needing to sort the patio after all the Christmas mother in law threads....
Would this kind of stuff work on a cobbles/setts, where the gaps are much bigger?
I used this stuff recommended in this article https://nccstreetscape.co.uk/Shop/product/gftks-vdw-850-paving-joint-mortar-2/
Seems to have got a lot more expensive, but I just needed one tub for a small patio. Appears to be indestructible so far 5-6 years on. Really quick and easy to use and goes a lot furthur than you would imagine.
Instructions on use from this excellent site https://www.pavingexpert.com/jointing13
I used this stuff recommended in this article https://nccstreetscape.co.uk/Shop/product/gftks-vdw-850-paving-joint-mortar-2/
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Looks good stuff but expensive! 3 times the price of the Sika product I've used before. I should point* out, less than 10% of the joints on the area shown need redoing. Any of those products that come in 15 - 20kg buckets are going to mostly be wasted.*see what I did there?
The old stuff will crack up, so just get it all out and do the job properly. Do it once and do it right*
Local 'Home of Stone' supplied Joint-it . No complaints and dead easy to apply.
*I have a masters degree in doing half a job and then starting again and doing it properly.
Redoing the whole lot would be a real ball ache! The patio is only about 6 years old and was professionally laid. It only seems to fail in a couple of small areas, each of which I have repaired twice already. The bulk of it is sound, so raking out a load of sound mortar would seem daft, not to say hard work - ooh my poor bloody 60 YO knees!
This is a big, old, rambling property from which we plan to downsize in 2 years. This is one of a very long list of jobs I need to do before then. I'll stick with making it presentable until I sell it, so a patch job it is!
If you are worried about wastage then you could do ours when you are finished 😜. Double that size and every joint needs doing. I have removed the old stuff though.
Also watching! I got a fairly large limestone patio and a one of those round patio kits from concrete slabs.
The only place the resin type grouting failed quickly was on the inner circle of the concrete kit as the 4 quarters have fake joints to make it look like 8 slabs... the grout lifted out in no time so if I ever get round to redoing it I'll probably grind them out so the grout is full thickness.
Annoyingly my limestone area I did with narrow joints and the grout has gradually eroded away so to brush in new resin grout would probably fail quickly. Mortar is more effort but at least its cheaper if it starts coming out again...
The joints that usually fail is where mortar was allowed to rise up level with the slab and maybe not raked out before setting
A 1/2" maybe 3/4" deep joint should work for a lot of years and everything soaked before it's brushed in
Maybe some folk don't read the instructions that is always supplied alongside
I was a huge fan of sika products until I used the stuff in a yellow bucket.
1. Remove all the old butter/grout and I mean all of it.
2. Fill with sika following all instructions to the tee.
3.see it all fail 1 year later.
While we are at it ,what’s best for removing black spot on limestone?
While we are at it ,what’s best for removing black spot on limestone?
Again, listening! I normally jetwash with a patio cleaner attachment which doesn't remove the spots, and read all sorts of conflicting advice on natural stone cleaners, bicabonate of soda etc etc. Apparently its not meant to be jetwashed either! I think the stone cleaner says it lightens the stone which I don't really want as its pale blue anyway.
Pah! I might pull up the grass that grows in the spaces, but the violets just keep coming back, and I love seeing the cowslips popping up everywhere.
Can you brush these products in or do they have to be careful applied to every gap.
Also can you legitimately use a cheap sand as a base then layer these products ontop.
Can you brush these products in or do they have to be careful applied to every gap.
The joint-it product that I used is just brushed in with water. Very easy to use. It seems to have survived the winter so far.
I used the Sika Fast Fix on our patio, last August. I used this YouTube video for an idea of how to carry on.
Another Joint it fan here. We used it on a new patio area we built during lock down so 4 years old now! Still perfect and crazily easy to apply. Raked out rubbish sika from the bigger patio a year later, which took bloody ages, and did that with Joint it. Again perfect except for one spot where the ants have come through it. Also smells a bit chemically for a few days while the glues fully set but as it's outside it's not an issue