Patio Laying Newbie

[Mark Trueman]

Been reading Cormaic's site as im hoping to lay a patio in the next week or so. Ive dug the area out to what i think is the correct level, but ive gotten a bit confused.

As i understand it from cormaics site, i should be able to put down

50mm of 10:1 sharp sand/cement mix and then lay my slabs directly on top of this. I cant see anything on the site that suggests using mortar between the slab and the 50mm of sand/cement.

Is this right, cos most other sites i have looked at have either said to use the 5 spot method(!!) or a full 50mm of mortar between slab and sand. If i do need to add another 50mm of mortar, this means more digging!!

My assumption is that the sand/cement mix will harden to a certain extent once the slabs have been bedded in, hence no need for the mortar

If it is just a case of the sand/cement bed, whats the best way to do this assuming that this is going to take more than one day to complete and i dont want the cement to go off after laying the whole patio bed. Any tips for doing it in stages and keeping it level.

Any pointers would be great

Cheers

Mark

[chris French]

In message , Mark Trueman writes

Well you can use just sharp sand under a patio the sand bed will be very firm once laid, but the cement does help stabilise it in the long term I guess, or give stronger base. I laid slabs on the dry mix bed technique in my last house . A few years later all was still nice and level. Certainly the continuos bed of mortar is unnecessary for patio, though may be appropriate for a drive.

You don't need to lay the bed all at once. As it's patio I take it we are talking a reasonably rectangular area. Easiest way then I think is to lay suitable edging boards (to give the correct fall etc.) and then screed out the dry mix to the appropriate level over part of the area.

You might want to trial a bit first to see how much it compacts down by.

Don't underestimate how long it may take at first. If you don't get it right and have to lift the slab to redo the base it can be a right faff.

[BigWallop]

Have a look through the

website. Tells you all you'll need to know about this type of job.

[Tim Mitchell]

In article , BigWallop writes

Err... he started off saying he'd done that

The sand/cement won't go off as long as it doesn't get wet. It will absorb moisture and harden over time (I presume thats what happens anyway)

[Mark Trueman]

OK thanks, so i guess there would be no problem with laying the sand/cement mix out and leaving it overnight then. Might cover it up just in case of a shower though.

That will definitely make it easier to get level.

Out of interest, how long would people estimate it would take to lay a

6x4.5 m2 area with 450mm slabs. Im thinking i could put down the sand cement mix and get them down in a day and a half (on my own)

[BigWallop]

You back will suffer, but if you're fit enough then it should be no problem.

The grout mix for the slabs should be brushed in dry, then watered down after you make sure all the mixture is cleaned off the surface to stop it marking the slabs.