joint patio as you go or all together when finished?

[Adman101]

Hi,

I am currently a third the way through laying a 100m2 patio. Its going to take a few evenings and next weekend to complete. I was planning to complete the lot then use Rompox easy to point at the end. I'm now fearful the kids will get loose and dislodge some of the slabs i have laid ao was wondering if the above resin jointing be used in stages or does it need to be done in one take?
Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks

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[WabbitPoo]

It sounds like you are relying on the joints to stabilise your paving. This is not correct. Your bedding layer does that, so if they are not stable then the joints won't help much. What are you going to bed the slabs onto? You'll have to keep the kids off until its ready to accept foot traffic.

 

[r896neo]

Wabbit Is spot on. Once the mortar bedding has cured, between 24-48 hours the paving should be set and ready to walk on. If any flag is still rocking at all it must be relayed.

Until its jointed you could in theory dislodge a slab by wedging something between 2 of them. You can joint in sections if you prefer but it would be better to do it in one hit if possible. The junction between the different sections pointing will always remain a tiny bit weaker.

I would avoid rompox easy, I have personal bad experience with it. Marshals weatherpoint, gtfk vdw and easyjoint all are pretty similar and the better of the one part polymerics.

 

[Adman101]

I've laid them on 6:1 sharp sand/cement bed 20-40mm thick. I was concerned that even with the strongest bed there is no way the slabs will be 'glued' to down. this coupled with a curious 2 year old who might have lifted or dislodged them in some way was the reason I was thinking of pointing it in sections. In terms of the jointing material - too late, I've already got the Rompox easy after reading good reviews about it and even the DIYer had had good success with it. Neo - What were your issues, anything you could advise?
Thanks

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[Tigercubrider]

can a 2 year old lift a paving slab?

 

[WabbitPoo]

No way the slab would be "glued down"? What do you think the cement is for?!? It forms a chemical bond to the stone, like mortar between bricks. As long as there is good contact between the slabs and the bed, and as long as there was some moisture in the bed to help the cement react then you're all good. Was it a wet bed (like bricklaying mortar) (good) or a dry bed (not so good)?

 

[r896neo]

For me it just gets green so quickly and never set very hard.

Very handy to install but I cant see it lasting well. I used it because my supplier was pushing it. Used it on 3 patios over a 6 month period and just wasn't happy with it so raked them all out and repointed them the following year. This is for customers though so I perhaps have a higher level I need to work to and the longevity is very important hence why I took the hit and replaced it to make sure it was a good long lasting Job. On my own house I would have left it and bleached it a few times a year.

 

[Adman101]

Thanks Neo. I'll bear it in mind.

Used a dryish mix for laying, wet mix not an option for two reasons 1. difficult to lay 2. staining like picture framing on stone. They have gone down fine and seem well bedded down. Two year old could lift the 300x300's, maybe not the 600x900's tho!

Think i'll try and barrier the lot off to keep the kids off somehow and then point the lot in one.

Thanks all

 

[WabbitPoo]

I dont get your aversion to kids running on it before you have pointed,.......pointing wont improve stability, as I said earlier, so if they're not stable now......etc

 

[Adman101]

Do you have kids? If yes, you'll know they can be very destructive creatures even unintentionally. The mortar no matter how wet it was, will not glue the things down, granted i can and have been walking on them without issue but i wouldn't want to kick at the corners before it was pointed as it would be possible to dislodge them.

 

[WabbitPoo]

O-K - have fun with the pointing....I always find it quite therapeutic