laying patio flags

[karl210]

Hi, im wondering if someone can help me a little.
It looks like someone has removed some flags and filled it in to put a drive in the rear garden, Since then a fence has been put up so it can no-longer be used as a drive. Whatever it is its awful and its chipping away in places leaving a tripping hazard so i want to take it up and flag it. Ive watched all diy videos on how to flag but im wondering do i need to take the same steps or will it be different for me because im not starting from scratch. I will be using 50mm concrete slabs to match the rest, basically what preperation do i need to do? The top layer is about 2inches and underneath that is about 6 inches of loose little stones. Im a complete novice but im sure i'll manage it, it can only be better than before. Also am i best off laying a full bed of mortar under each flag or go down the 5 point route?

Untitled

• karl210
• 13 Jun 2014
• 1

Untitled

• karl210
• 13 Jun 2014
• 1

Untitled

• karl210
• 13 Jun 2014
• 1

 

[wrathkeg]

see the pavingexpert .com website for all this and more.

 

[karl210]

Thanks for the link but its not really helping my situation ie, do i need to rip everything up and start from scratch or can i cheat as underneath has already been prepared. Do i need to lay hardcore and hire a compacter, or can i just lay mortar ontop of the stones after theyve been compatced etc

 

[wrathkeg]

personally, if I could get the stuff that's there compacted properly I would look at laying the slabs on top of that as it would be effectively a hardcore subbase.

You should lay on a full bed of mortar.

 

[karl210]

Ok cool thanks, so am i best off digging out all the top layer then and renting a compacter and see how well it compacts? How deep should i lay the mortar? so i know how much to dig out

 

[wrathkeg]

well, again only speaking personally, I would dig a bit out and see if I could compact it by hand as I own a rammer and not a compactor...

pavingexpert answers all your questions about the depth of the bedding layers etc.

 

[karl210]

Ok, ive dug everything up and im happy with how its compacted, i collected some flags last night so im good to do the final stage now. I will be going the unbound route using 20-30mm of grit sand and cement mix at 10:1.
This may sound a silly question but which is the correct way of laying:
1. Mix the sand/cement dry, lay it down then lay flags?
2. Mix the sand/cement wet, lay it down then lay flags?
3.Mix the sand/cement dry, lay it down, wet it then lay flags?

I cant seem to find this answer on paving expert website and ive heard contradicting things about each way.

 

[wrathkeg]

I would mix it without any extra water, described as a 'semi dry' mix here:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/layflag3.htm

I would wet up some of the same mix for any slabs to be laid at a free edge (but that might not apply in your case):

http://www.pavingexpert.com/layflag2.htm

 

[karl210]

Brilliant, thanks for your help.
That website is really helpfull its just a lot to take in at first.
Will hopefully be cracking on on sunday.

 

[karl210]

Got tomorrow and thurs morning off work so i plan to do it then. I will lay and screed the sand first thing but if i dont get chance to lay all of the flags ontop untill thursday morning will this be a problem?

 

[r896neo]

if you are using any cement in your bedding, which i strongly recommend then you must lay straight away. To be honest if you've not laid flags before you will have much more chance of a good result with a wet mix and lay flags with an individual bed for each one.

Screeding is only good if you can lay the flag down on to the bed completely level and flat which as you will find with a 3x2 council grey is not easy unless your superman or have specialist equipment.

 

[karl210]

I already have all the sand and everything and set on doing it this way now. Ive only got 7 flags to lay but what i will do is lay and screed about 4 flagsworth and lay 4 flags and do the other 3 thursday morning.