Wet or dry mix mortar for patio

Naf

When I laid our patio, I've only used a sand base - no mortar at all (because it doesn't need to be heavy duty for a car or anything). I've not had any problems, and its also allowed me to fix some of the slabs that I hadn't laid so well.

I've not had much luck with pointing, though. I've tried very wet mixes, the dry stuff that you just brush in, thick mixes. Every time it just seems to crack and let stuff grow through. My most recent attempt I've tried a very strong mix, quite thick; seems to be holding OKish so far.

Ebe_Scrooge

Naf wrote: »

When I laid our patio, I've only used a sand base - no mortar at all (because it doesn't need to be heavy duty for a car or anything). I've not had any problems, and its also allowed me to fix some of the slabs that I hadn't laid so well.

I've not had much luck with pointing, though. I've tried very wet mixes, the dry stuff that you just brush in, thick mixes. Every time it just seems to crack and let stuff grow through. My most recent attempt I've tried a very strong mix, quite thick; seems to be holding OKish so far.

A sand-only base is fine - at first. But what happens after a few good bursts of rain that washes the sand away ? Unless the edges of the patio are somehow totally sealed watertight, rain and moisture is going to find its way underneath the slabs and dislodge the sand.


Also, a solid mortar base will keep the weeds at bay, thereby alleviating your problem of weeds coming through the pointing.


You're right, a patio that's only taking foot traffic doesn't need anything like the foundations that a driveway would, but to my mind a decent layer of mortar is the best way forward. And as I mentioned earlier, personally I actually find it easier than laying on a dry mix - so long as the mix is not too wet, it gives you the ability to adjust levels as you go, just by tapping with a rubber mallet.

Naf

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

A sand-only base is fine - at first. But what happens after a few good bursts of rain that washes the sand away ? Unless the edges of the patio are somehow totally sealed watertight, rain and moisture is going to find its way underneath the slabs and dislodge the sand.


Also, a solid mortar base will keep the weeds at bay, thereby alleviating your problem of weeds coming through the pointing.


You're right, a patio that's only taking foot traffic doesn't need anything like the foundations that a driveway would, but to my mind a decent layer of mortar is the best way forward. And as I mentioned earlier, personally I actually find it easier than laying on a dry mix - so long as the mix is not too wet, it gives you the ability to adjust levels as you go, just by tapping with a rubber mallet.

All fair points. At the time I also didn't want to make it totally permanent as our landlord didn't know about it :rotfl:
All the sides are sealed in, as there's grass all around which I dug it into.

Ebe_Scrooge

Naf wrote: »

All fair points. At the time I also didn't want to make it totally permanent as our landlord didn't know about it :rotfl:
All the sides are sealed in, as there's grass all around which I dug it into.

Fair enough, if it's not intended to be permanent then fair play :-)


But I would suspect that an edging of grass is not going to stop the water getting in - if you get a really heavy downpour then water is likely to be running just below the surface if it can't drain away quick enough. Especially if it's anything like my lawn that turns into a paddling pool when we get a hefty downpour ( I really must get round to sorting the drainage out properly at some point ! ) :rotfl: