Repairing patio

[Mat888]

Hi
I have recently move in to a new flat and want to refresh the garden patio. It has buff coloured tiles which have quite a bit of mould blackspot on. I am going to pressure wash to clean them but then also need to grout them (all of the previous grouting has decayed). The gaps are of varying sizes (approx 5mm to 30mm), can anyone advise the best mix for this? I was planning on using a dry mix with three parts sand and 1 part concrete.
Also the slabs were laid on soil rather than a concrete base. Some slabs are stable however a small number move when i stand on them. Can anyone recommend how I can fix these slabs to the ground e.g. lay them on self levelling compound?. I asked a couple of people to quote for repairing this but got quoted £2k which is outside of my budget.
Thanks
Mat

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Welcome to the forum Mat.

More questions than answers on this. You state tiles are laid directly onto soil? Are these actually tiles or paving flags? What size are they and how big is the patio. £2K is a lot of money for leveling; is this amount quoted for relaying the entire patio?

Three parts sand one part concrete? Do you mean three parts sand one part cement? I use four parts sharp sand one part portland cement; even five parts sand and one part cement can be used but the mix shouldn't be too strong or too wet; if too wet it will make a mess and be unsightly; much better too dry than too wet it needs to be crumbly and the mortar can be coloured if desired. Once the mortar joint starts to dry I gently go over with a soft brush which gives a more natural finish and I finish the mortar joint flush with the top of the flags.

£2K will get the job done with little personal satisfaction whereas doing the work yourself you'll spend very little indeed on materials whilst learning a very useful skill and when completed you can stand back with pride to look at it.

We have neighbours who spend a lot on gym's but get someone in; I don't need a gym to keep fit and money is better spent on materials. If in doubt just browse YouTube videos; you'll only nip your fingers once.

Kind regards, Colin.

The flag relaid.

To ensure the flag went down and remained down I made a gauging bar as shown; top length of planed 2x1" approx six inches longer than the slab the bottom length 2" shorter than the opening and adjusted to exactly the flag thickness.

Before adding the bedding mortar I used a 2lb hammer and went over the ground to compress it. Here it's ready to receive the flag.

These flags are very heavy at 3' x 2' x 2" and are laid on a slope adding greatly to the problem; when I laid the path in 2002 I manually lifted the flags into place but here I made a lifting bar and used an electric hoist saving my back. I took my time and enjoyed the work.

I can claim this pointing tray to be unique it being an idea I dreamt up and have used many years; it's a tower computer side panel the long edge accurately folded at 90 degrees to form a lip this lip only needs to be shallow. The short end 90 degrees folded in the opposite direction. I'm mostly right handed so the short fold is as seen.

Here is the mortar tray in use saving a great deal of time; I have two of these pointing trowels one narrow one wide; please note how crumbly the mix is. No staining of the flag faces at all and as the pointing starts to dry I use a soft hand brush from brush and dustpan to gently go over; the pointing to the picture bottom is the original from all those years ago.