A neighbour has a problem with them coming loose, and all the mortar between them breaking up. The latter is not due to them being pressure washed, but maybe they were 'frosted' when laid.
I am not a builder and apparently they were spot dabbed to fix down, but I have no idea what bed they were laid on. I do not think he can afford a decent builder to completely redo the path, so I offered to help. Should I just take them all up with a metal rod, knock off the 'spot dab' at each corner with a lump hammer & cold chisel, then re-lay on a bed of sand, don't fix down, and sweep a dry mortar mix into the joints to settle, and let the rain set it in due course. Or am I talking cobblers!
Any advice would be much appreciated
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I relaid all mine - on sand.. removing all mortar.
I do not mortar between slabs as they just move and the mortar breaks when they settle - which they will..
Time in preparation of the sand bed is key, rake, level, flatten and hit it to solidify the surface .. takes a while but well worth it. I used spirit level plus planks along the side set horizontally at the height you want the sand to be then laid sand and ran a board perched on each side plank to check the sand was level.
Takes a while to ensure you have no stones etc in teh sand and everything is just level but makes it much easier.
The greenhouse 2x2s were easy, the side path engineering bricks were easy but the path using old gravestones was a real pia,.as they were VERY heavy...
Ideally you need two - but I did it on my own using wooden rollers to roll the new slabs into place over the ones already laid plus a wooden framework based on the horizontal boards. Removed the framework when each was in place.
You need good knee protectors and strong gloves. Despite that my knees were dodgy for months after the engineering bricks..
Or if you don't care, do as we did at the apiary and use earth, level roughly by eye, put slabs in place and add more/remove earth where required.. Much quicker and the end result was acceptable..We (three of us) laid 40 2x2s in a morning including site levelling..OK two years later
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Many thanks madf...they are Indian stone flags, roughly the same size, but, different thicknesses which could complicate matters. And its the wrong time of year to be doing this on my days off.
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Its all down to the foundations and how good they were before the flags were layed on top. verything moves particularly when the frost sets in. You can make a reasonable job or you can make a real job of it by almost starting again.
The best bed I have found is a 'dry' sharps sand an cement mix which will support the entire weight of the flag.
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The thread title made me wonder if the IOC had decided passing a baton was just too easy - nice mental image anyway. But there's advice here I'll refer to if I ever dare look under the mess of crooked slabs outside our slidy window.
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Not cracked like those - the slabs themselves are sound - but something (or someone?) has gone badly wrong underneath.
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I would suggest the slabs were laid with 4 dabs on cement - one on each corner, leaving a void in the middle. Car comes along: crack...
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Not sure if you meant me, Madf, but ours are behind the house where nothing heavier than - er - me ever goes. Not sure if the rearrangement is due to settling (the soil up here is very thin and holds next to no water), tree roots (we've removed a couple of nasty conifers since buying the house) or what.
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Conifers.. roots dry out everything. That's why I relaid a brick path,,,
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>> I hope they are not as bad as the slabs in these photos.
>> www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BROMPTON-M6L-FOLDING-BIKE-GREEN-GREEN-BRITISH-MADE-/151156686639?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item2331a3ff2f
Description not wholly accurate and with a damaged rack (how?) and he got nigh on £500 top bid. Might be expensive to buy but they hold their value remarkably.
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The last type of seller I'd buy anything expensive from. The bike looks as uncared for as the weedy drive.
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I agree. I'd noted the drive when I looked at the listing which is how it ended up in this thread.
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>> Description not wholly accurate and with a damaged rack (how?) and he got nigh on
>> £500 top bid. Might be expensive to buy but they hold their value remarkably.
I was thinking that when it was at £350. Astonishing that there's no competing Chinese version for £100 or so.
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There is, in Decathlon. Dunno if it's Chinese, don't care either. But it's £160 and looks to be a very, very good alternative.
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>> I was thinking that when it was at £350. Astonishing that there's no competing Chinese
>> version for £100 or so.
There was a Chinese folder known as a Merc sold in 2009-10. Blatant knock off of the Brompton fold but in aluminium rather than steel. Not that much cheaper IIRC, rode badly and notwithstanding the al frame heavier than the real thing.
Brompton were unamused and took action under patents/IP legislation with most of importers stock impounded.
The Decathlon looks good value but at 15kg it's some 25-40% (depending on the variant) than a Brompton and with 20" wheels will have a much larger folded volume.
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Back to paving. We finally did get a look under ours, and all the trouble was caused by a root from one of the removed conifers. With that out of the way, and the slabs rearranged into a tidier pattern by our regular rent-a-bloke with the right kit, the whole thing looks and feels miles better.
It's now level enough to take a table - the one that has been occupying the space I want for our permanent outdoor barbecue. Something else to design in those long, cold evenings to come.
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Were they Union Flags, though?
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Of course, Roger - in fact, better still: European Union flags.
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Yup: one should ALWAYS use a Wacker Plate on EU flags!
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What and break them up, why on earth would a sane person want to do that ?
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Relaying stone flags - madf
