New Patio am I being unreasonable?

SteveVy

Hi Guys,

I am looking for a second opinion here, I want to know if I am being too picky....

I asked a landscaper to extend my current patio, they have not yet finished but I have queries regarding the following;

I have noticed the following issues when I compared the new patio to the old patio....

1) A lot of the paving stones are not in line is this acceptable?

2) This has resulted in the joints also not being in line...I believe everything should be perfectly in line am I being unreasonable?

3) Some of the paving is not in line which is resulting in a visible 'lip' which could be a trip hazard.

As the job is not yet finished I am giving the guys the benefit of the doubt but I am worried...I'll be taking up the following issues with them later on today.

koalakoala

I think you should have stopped them before it got that far !

SteveVy

koalakoala said:

I think you should have stopped them before it got that far !

Is it best to ask them to relay and start again?

searchlight123

that is not good but as previously stated, you should have flagged this as soon as you saw that first row going down. the only real remedy is to relay the slabs. from the photos i cannot see if there is any reason (other than shoddy workmanship) why these new slabs were not aligned correctly.

stuart45

Strange that they made this mistake. It could be that the new slabs are a very slightly different size, and that it's an accumulated fault. As they are butt jointed there is no room for adjustment in the joints. However, I'm not making excuses for them, they need to get round any issues like that.

Its_not_paranoia

Shocking work. Either they relay it or get a significantly reduced payment. 

The last picture makes it clear what's happended - they've started in one corner, and on the last couple of slabs needed to get it to line up to the existing. It's like a bad DIY job that you might put up with if a relative did it for free - not something anyone should be charging money for. 

It shouldn't be the customer's job to police the work of the professionals. 

pearl123

It's pretty dire. 

SteveVy

Hi Folks,

Just had a word with the guys..they seem like they want to resole this...I am being told..

'The slabs are from different batches so each one is a different size due to the way they are cut this is why they are not in-line'

I advised, "I appreciate some may be slightly out but I doubt any manufacturer would sell slabs that are this bad, I've also measured them and they are all 45cm x 45cm so it doesn't really make sense what your telling me'

They are now thinking whether they are going to relay all of them or not...

Also being told 'there is no way they can match them up to the existing slabs' and that I should pay to have all the old slabs removed and relaid.

Again this does not make sense to me as the old slabs and new ones are the same size...unless I am missing something here?

I also have a feeling these are the paving slabs they used...(they told me they were from Travis Perkins) can't prove it though...

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/garden-paving-slabs/bradstone-peak-riven-slab-buff-paving-slab-450x450x32mm/p/914210

Note it says "Not recommended for feature patios" is this is why they are having issues?

jbainbridge

Either they are the same size or they aren't. If they're slightly larger the offset will gradually get larger. From your pictures they do look to be the same size .. I think.

From different batches .. your man sounds like he's trying some BS.

Not sure what "Not recommended for feature patios" means ... shouldn't prevent them being laid square and in line.

Jeepers_Creepers

SteveVy said:

Hi Folks,

Just had a word with the guys..they seem like they want to resole this...I am being told..

'The slabs are from different batches so each one is a different size due to the way they are cut this is why they are not in-line' 

I advised, "I appreciate some may be slightly out but I doubt any manufacturer would sell slabs that are this bad, I've also measured them and they are all 45cm x 45cm so it doesn't really make sense what your telling me'

They are now thinking whether they are going to relay all of them or not...

Also being told 'there is no way they can match them up to the existing slabs' and that I should pay to have all the old slabs removed and relaid.

Again this does not make sense to me as the old slabs and new ones are the same size...unless I am missing something here?

I also have a feeling these are the paving slabs they used...(they told me they were from Travis Perkins) can't prove it though...

https://www.travisperkins.co.uk/garden-paving-slabs/bradstone-peak-riven-slab-buff-paving-slab-450x450x32mm/p/914210

Note it says "Not recommended for feature patios" is this is why they are having issues?

I doubt these are 'cut' - they are usually 'cast'. They should be pretty much identical in size, tho' a tiny variation between different mouldings is normal, but not enough to cause such issues.

You have answered this yourself, tho' - they are all 450mm.

IF what they claim is true - these new ones are fractionally larger than your existing ones, so's the accumulated incremental increases in size build up so's they end up out of line as you show - then this should be obvious from going to the starting end and seeing if they line up to begin with - any chance of a photo? And then any difference should be small and increase slowly as the slabs are laid.

Even IF this were the case, it doesn't explain how they got the second row back in line with your old slabs!

And even IF this were the case, they should have brought this to your attention before proceeding with it - how on earth did they imagine that a customer would find this acceptable?!

The 'steps' between some slabs can be caused by (a) the riven texture being at different heights where two slabs meet (are they riven to their edges, or do they have flat straight borders?), (b) the cast slabs being of poor quality - slightly warped/uneven thickness, or (c) they have not been laid correctly. Guess what my money is on...

I would (a) contact TP and ask why they say these aren't for 'feature patios' - is it because they are too uneven, for example? (b) have a look at the far end where the first row of new slabs begin - are they in alignment there? How do they begin to come out of alignment - in tiny increments?

It's a shame your original slabs didn't have grouting lines, as this would most likely have prevented these issues in the first place, but hey...

Mojisola

SteveVy said:

With shoddy work like that, I would check whether they've done the base properly as well.