This probably belongs in the "DIY Disasters" forum ...
Backstory: about 5 years ago, we employed a bunch of highly-recommended professionals to turn a raised bed into a meter-high patio enclosed with sleepers. The job looked lovely for the first year, until the sleepers started to sag (not enough posts, hardcore wasn't compacted etc), causing the "bed" to sink and the slabs to go from slightly wobbly to downright dangerous. The "professionals" have conveniently gone bust and are nowhere to be found.
So we bit the bullet this year and got another local company in, who promised to be able to fix the sleepers and relay the patio. However, despite all sorts of promises before the job started, 10 minutes in they'd abandoned their original plan to remove and reset the sleepers, and instead stuck some fence posts on the outside of it to prop them up. I have serious doubts whether the posts will make even a bit of difference, it's too much weight and too little post.
But that's not the current problem: they've relayed the slabs, doing what I can only describe as a mediocre job. They've stuck Joint-In inbetween the relain slabs (they didn't soak the ground first), and brushed the remainer over the job of the existing grout on the other slabs! Joint-It specs are for 25mm depth, so I can imagine the grout will last a few days before flying off under the slightest bit of rain. Here's the "after" photo, share my pain:
The landscapers have now disappeared off on their horses with £1500 of my money (no invoice, naturally): I've been outside to attempt to tidy up after them, and gave the new patio a good hose down. There's no drainage at all on the patio now (at least previously there were lots of holes for the water to escape through), so I'll need to effect some kind of drainage at the edges in the coming days. However, when I stepped on one particular slab, water is coming up from underneath the slab and out through the grout (video here - unfortunately difficult to capture, but hopefully gives a good idea of the problem)
This only appears to be happening for one particular slab so far (arrowed in the picture above). I can only imagine this isn't a good sign, and I'm sure in the winter when that water freezes, it'll expand and .. do something pretty bad.
So with my extremely limited DIY skills, is there anything I could or should be doing to fix the leaky-slab problem now? There's many bigger problems for the days ahead (I've resigned myself to the fact the whole thing needs torn down and completely redone, but that's something I can't afford in the short term), but I'd like to address this one if I can. And please don't tell me I'm an idiot for employing cowboys: having been stung twice now, I've truly learned my lesson.
Backstory: about 5 years ago, we employed a bunch of highly-recommended professionals to turn a raised bed into a meter-high patio enclosed with sleepers. The job looked lovely for the first year, until the sleepers started to sag (not enough posts, hardcore wasn't compacted etc), causing the "bed" to sink and the slabs to go from slightly wobbly to downright dangerous. The "professionals" have conveniently gone bust and are nowhere to be found.
So we bit the bullet this year and got another local company in, who promised to be able to fix the sleepers and relay the patio. However, despite all sorts of promises before the job started, 10 minutes in they'd abandoned their original plan to remove and reset the sleepers, and instead stuck some fence posts on the outside of it to prop them up. I have serious doubts whether the posts will make even a bit of difference, it's too much weight and too little post.
But that's not the current problem: they've relayed the slabs, doing what I can only describe as a mediocre job. They've stuck Joint-In inbetween the relain slabs (they didn't soak the ground first), and brushed the remainer over the job of the existing grout on the other slabs! Joint-It specs are for 25mm depth, so I can imagine the grout will last a few days before flying off under the slightest bit of rain. Here's the "after" photo, share my pain:
The landscapers have now disappeared off on their horses with £1500 of my money (no invoice, naturally): I've been outside to attempt to tidy up after them, and gave the new patio a good hose down. There's no drainage at all on the patio now (at least previously there were lots of holes for the water to escape through), so I'll need to effect some kind of drainage at the edges in the coming days. However, when I stepped on one particular slab, water is coming up from underneath the slab and out through the grout (video here - unfortunately difficult to capture, but hopefully gives a good idea of the problem)
This only appears to be happening for one particular slab so far (arrowed in the picture above). I can only imagine this isn't a good sign, and I'm sure in the winter when that water freezes, it'll expand and .. do something pretty bad.
So with my extremely limited DIY skills, is there anything I could or should be doing to fix the leaky-slab problem now? There's many bigger problems for the days ahead (I've resigned myself to the fact the whole thing needs torn down and completely redone, but that's something I can't afford in the short term), but I'd like to address this one if I can. And please don't tell me I'm an idiot for employing cowboys: having been stung twice now, I've truly learned my lesson.
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