Recent content by BirdDesign

4 (sharp): 2 (building): 1 (cement) is a pretty good mix, it's nicer and easier to use than just sharp sand & cement and stronger than just building sand & cement. We use it on most paving jobs. It translates to approximately 8 sharp, 4 building and half a bag of OPC in the mixer, mixed...

Like Thermo, I've only heard bad things about it, so I've never used it either. Again, like Thermo, I use the good old, time tested methods too... no substitute imo.

Why is the patio running back to the house and is it a linear drain that's too high? If so, you could probably get away with removing the first course of paving and dropping the drain down. If not, you could always install a linear drain to take the water. If you do need to lift and re-lay...

At the very least you will need to set reinforcing bar into the foundation to go through the blocks and then fill the hollow blocks with concrete.

Spacing the ledger off the wall is okay. I usually make our decks free standing on piers if poss and leave a small gap of about 5-10mm. There's plenty of decks about that have the boards at internal floor level to achieve the outdoor room look. Incidentally, if you have water running of the...

Fence spikes are totally crap! You'd be far better off just concreting 100mm posts straight into the ground, Your fence will last longer and you'll save on the pointless expense of the spikes.

In addition to linseed oil, Tung Oil is another option. It's waterproof and has a matt finish...

lol! :lol:

I'd strip it with a turf cutter, rotavate and import a good screened loamy topsoil. Lightly compact the new topsoil (heel and toe) and rake it to grade it out and to remove any large pebbles - not that there should be any if it's sceened (there usually are though :)). Wet the topsoil before...

It'll make your arms ache a bit but a good sharp hand saw will get through a sleeper in a couple of minutes. You''ll be ok cutting them with a circular saw too... the blade will just clear the waste at whatever depth you cut at but unless you are really accurate, you'll get overlaps where the...

It's best to remove, add sub-base and do it right to be honest. If you are going to lay onto existing paving, I'd recommend breaking them first. What are they laid onto? If they are directly onto soil for instance, any further movement will undoubtably transmit to the new paving.. ie lifting...

Rotavate it with a couple of T of washed sand to add a bit of drainage and then add 4-6 inches of loamy topsoil. Tread it in (heel and toe) or use a roller and rake it. I usually 'screed' the topsoil too to find out the high/low spots and then really give it a good soak prior to laying turf.

Ditto :D Hard sweaty work but will ultimately solve the problem!

For a drive, I'd lay 150mm of Type 1. Compact it twice... once when 75mm depth then once when at full depth. I'd definitely lay edgings too onto about 100mm of semi-dry concrete then haunched. If you don't you'll end up with a right mess after a while. What sort of gravel are you thinking...

It depends a lot on the radius really. If it's tight you may struggle to to get a nice curve without cutting an internal and external arc... external are easy enough but internal curves on a small radius can be a pain. In the past, I've laid small radius curves in a 900mm-1200mm path using...