DIY repointing between slabs

loulou41

The chap who was going to power wash and reointed the Yorkshire slabs let me down. I am thinking of having a go myself. I saw already mixed mortar from wickes. I am not sure about measurement as it says 1 kg to 100 MLS of water. No idea how many cups of mortar I will need to mix. I have also got the option of buying the stuff you just brush over. Any advice will be much appreciated. I intend to do a practice run before. Thanks

Ebe_Scrooge

There are basically 3 schools of thought when it comes to pointing.


Firstly, brush in dry mortar and let it absorb moisture from the ground / air. This has the advantage of being cleaner, you don't have any danger of spilling wet mortar onto the slabs. The downside is that you can end up with a skin forming on the outside of the mortar, and the inside doesn't cure properly.


Secondly, just mix up a standard consistency as you would for bricklaying, and trowel it in. This gives a consistent mix and a good finish, but it's very easy to end up with more on the slabs than in the joints if you're not careful.


Thirdly - and my personal favourite - mix in just a small amount of water so that you end up with a "biscuit crumb" consistency. This basically gives the best of both the above options. There's enough moisture to make sure it cures evenly, but if you do get some on the slabs in the process, you can easily brush it straight off. Just make sure you press it really well into the joints.


If you're using ready-mixed mortar then this last part won't apply. But if you're mixing it yourself, make sure you make up enough dry mix to finish the whole job - otherwise, if you end up making two or more batches, you'll never get the mixtures exactly the same, and you'll see a slight colour difference betwen them.


Hope this helps.