Back garden - new patio (Indian sandstone) DIY log

99% of people install the boards upside down.
I believe there is no such thing as "upside down" with groove/flat edges as I recall.

Anyways I'm not installing decking (yet! / this project..... Later for the garden room next year.... But I'll go composite for sure)


Moved over 4 tonnes of grit (/sharp) sand and cement ( 171bags) into position ready for mixing. I'll be doing a 5:1 mix with a little plasticiser in it.

Ive bought some prebagged larson primer rather than mixing my own primer with SBR.


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Looking good.

At some point in the near future I expect SWMBO to order me to relay the patio here which is somewhere in the region of 100sqm+, down the sides of the house and to the rear.

I do wonder if a grabbo style lifter makes positioning large slabs any easier? Or if offering up once on the bed of mortar is sufficient.
I don't think grabbos would work on these riven sandstone. They'd be fine /good for "flat" porcelain. Tbh you get used to it. 100 sqm will be horrible on your own!
 
I love it how people put down diy youtubers, tiktokers etc etc while posting DIY advice on an IT forum…..
Generally I think YouTube can be good but just particularly the hard landscaping info I've seen on YouTube is pretty patchy at best.
 
Good work so far OP.
Are you doing it entirely with a level?
We will set up string lines at our finished height (falls included) every 6 feet or so, that way you can just tap down a slab, and then use your level on the slab to check with the lines if its high or low, i find this way a lot faster and easier than just using a level.
Its a personal choice, but i would also avoid any long straight joints.

Used a laser for initial set out of the MOT (there are spot level marks on the fencing pins and house and a level for the rest.

Not sure I quite get you on the string line but now the first run is set I know which way I want it to run.

Yes I've read to avoid long lines and cross joints. Maybe the last row line is a touch long but I was initially following a manufacturer pack (which doesn't go as large as I require) then I will free hand it to keep it random

Done some more today. Done 3 mixes today (each of 3 bags of sand plus cement!) so circa 250kg of mortar in

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Didnt help i split a couple and also had to take out some after laying as the size was so far different from others in the pack.
 
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Had a bad one yeserday

Ground out this tile and realised I mismeasured, also had to grind a couple other tiles as the fitting tolerances weren't going to work/ allow a grout joint (i think it's due to excessive tolerances in the stone and me only using a 10mm joint than say 15mm)

Ive bought a new grinder blade as my porcelain tile one was very slow.

Still got 3 boxes of slabs to fit and this is about 1 and a bit!

Also I'm thinking of what type of shingle to cover the drains. Any thoughts of wether to go more light similar to the slabs or possibly a darker stone for contrast...




Cut well but wrong size :( :
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Replacement
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Loving the progress so far.

Two I would consider are:
Dark shingle to keep in line with the brickwork.
White as a complete contrast and to create an eye catching border between the dark brick and light coloured sandstone.
I think a bright white would end up just getting a bit manky with soil etc.
 
Looks mega. Inb4 you're asked to build a pergola
Hah fortunately there is a lot of trees /north facing as I like to sit in the shade....i think for pergolas you need to build a massive lump of concrete underneath.

Ive got another tonne of sand and cement coming today (45 x25kg bags) which hopefully is about right or slightly over.
 
Well done OP, looking good.
Its hard to see from the pics but i would also advise scrapping out any mortar in the joints between slabs the squeezes up before it goes off, it will make it much easier when you come to point it.

Yeah I've left room for grouting/pointing. It's minimum 20mm depth on it.

Not really, its just securing the posts with sufficient depth of concrete underneath.

Yes whereas it's laid on a bed of sand/cement mortar..... It doesn't have that. Regardless i dont want a pergola.

@Buffman be interested how much square meters you have and how much mortar you have had to buy for that area. What's your bed thickness?

Also where did you get the paving from and if you don't mind saying what was the price?

Its circa 60 sqm and I've bought in total about 6 tonnes. Some of the bed thickness is quite big and up to 60mm in places which is why I'm using a lot! Should have put in more MOT!

The paving is from London stone and it's riven mint sandstone. I think i posted a link previously.
 
More in. Need to cut it back slightly the also out in the sandstone setts at the edge. I've ran out of sand, again!

Somehow whiffed it quite a bit and the edge near grass is way higher than anticipated (ending up with circa 70mm beds)

I'll be filling it with soil anyway and getting it all level so guess it just means more soil.

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grinded out the curved border with a 4" grinder and put the edging border setts in.

Now it just needs the haze remover then the sealer then applying the epoxy resin pointing/grout.

I'm gonna need what I imagine is 5 ish tonnes of top soil in to grade the soil back in level with the patio :( went slightly high towards the lawn in the latter half)

Ps anyone know what to do with all the spare :D


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Getting there with the cleaning/sealing/grouting:

Mixing
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Spreading with a trowel. I should have used aluminium tape to hold it in at edges
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Applying sealant
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Bought 2 more tubs at an eye watering 300 quid to cover this
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Looks mega - you must be chuffed! How does the effort compare to building the workshop? I need to lay at least 21sqm in a one-er, potentially more if I do the side/path to the allotments... Ground work isn't my forte :cry:

Its very labour intensive but otherwise nothing insurmountable. I slightly bollocksed my levels towards the edge so needed to buy more sand/cement than initially envisaged.

My grout spacings could also have been more uniform.

The wife was more keen for this job than garden room /shed/workshop so that helped with this :D

Great job, but i would have liked to have seen the smaller edging stones all the way around the edge.....just personal preference.

But a top job indeed.
I think it'll look more blended once I have some stones here around the perimeter

 
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