How hard is it to put down 4x4 slab patio?

do_it_today!

Hi :hello:
I've been wanting to extend current patio so we have enough room for table and chairs have tried to get numerous people to come round to no avail - then had some ridicolous qoutes too!

so am wondering whether we should bite the bullet and doing it ourselves however am weary of ending up with a wonkey job because that would bug me. The builders merchant sold us all the necessary materials so just wondering what do you think? have you ever attempted it?

thanks

covbaldy

Easy! Just hard work - make sure you mark your arae out with string and wooden sticks get it all square then check your levels using a long piece of wood.

Get a hardcore base down - 6 inches deep should be plenty, compact (you can hire a compactor) then cement corners of slabs making sure they are of course level - use a spirit level and a plastic mallet for tapping down.

HTH

nelly05

try

https://www.pavingexpert.com

excellent site for all paving help

Regards

Old_Skool

Following on from Covbaldy another alternative once the hardcore base is down is to use a layer of sharp sand on top instead of cement.

Add about 1-2 inches of sharp sand (must be sharp not soft), compact down, set up level guides along the opposite edges(allow for a fall for rain) and then drag a board across the area to obtain a level (remember to allow for the thickness of the slab).

The slabs can be positioned on the sand and tapped down.

This is the same way block paving is layed.

The only disadvantage is that after a few years some slabs may need rebedding with new sand but its a quick job

do_it_today!

Thanks for all your help :hello:

Canucklehead

quill wrote: »

May I be cheeky and join this thread to ask questions please?
Our garden is mainly patio ie a huge expanse. When we moved in, I got rid of the pointing that was left and tried to repoint ignoring the fact that not all slabs were level.
What a disaster! I bought ready mixed stuff and brushed it in. The outcome was horrible lime grey discolouration to the stone edges. Three years on and several pressure washing treatments later, the slabs have lost the pointing again and never came back to the beigey colour they were when we moved in.
To break up the amount of concrete, I've lifted areas of slabs and planted in the spaces.
This is all temporary ( but i'll keep the planted areas) and I want our garden to look nice now.
1. Would you buy more slabs considering there would be an awful lot of them so we are talking many £100 in just material?
2. If we used the old ones, how should we go about doing a proper DIY job? Lift a small area at a time, relevel properly ( looks like sand underneath) and just point? If so what do we use? Was the pinky stuff I bought the right stuff?

Good afternoon: When we slabbed a small section of our garden a couple years back my OH, Corgi Guy, used one of these http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=45910&ts=01479#

to point the slabs...it worked a treat...just make sure you use soft sand in your mortar mix and rinse the gun thoroughly after use.

HTH

Canucklehead

ormus

for light foot trafiic there is really no need to goto all the trouble of extensive groundworks etc..
just lay the slabs on the level soil or a bedding of sharp sand.
the only downside is more maintenance required over the years. but a bit of weeding takes minutes, no big deal.

you may have to relay the odd slab now and again, same as above, no big deal, it takes minutes to insert some more sand and reset a slab.

beedeedee

It can be quite a physical job to lay slabs (there's a lot of bending involved). Don't try and do it on the hottest day of the year and choose ones that you can lift easily without too much strain - sounds obvious, but we didn't really give it a thought. Afterwards, stand back and admire your handiwork - then dive into a long hot bath!
PS What time will you want us for drinks when it's finished?