questions about my patio project.

[maplegardenservices1]

Hi,

I am about to start a patio project and i would like some advise on a few points.

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/1944/patiodesign.jpg

Here is a simplistic image of the general shape, as you can see the alley between my house and the garage is not parallel (its roughly 5.2 mtrs long and goes from 1.8mtrs wide to 1.1 mtrs wide. Then the "path" (that will also be slabbed) goes from 1.1 mtrs wide to 0.8 mtrs wide, this is all due to the garage being at a odd angle to the house.

I (ok the wife *sigh*) wants to slab the alley (the alley is a good brick depth lower than the path) wall to wall and have a step up to the path. As well as the paths slabs to connect the patio in front of the house to the patio in front of the garage. I will also be laying the patio in front of the house and the patio in front of the garage as part of the same project.

As you can see the conservatory french doors will also lead to the patio and are also at a angle.

The slabs i have chosen are "Arctic Granite Dusk" and the entire area to be slabbed is roughly 40sqm (if i include the wall to wall alley idea).

Ok so here are the questions.

1. For "Arctic Granite Dusk" what would you recomend close or open jointing and what type of grouting would you use?.

2. Considering the amount of cutting required for the path/alley to have wall to wall slabs i think a simple slabbed path with a attractive gravel either side is a better idea but how do i convince my wife?.

3. Obviously the odd angle of the conservatory is going to be a issue and i would like a idea on how i should angle the slabs in front of the french doors and where would be the best place to put the mitre joints in regards to ease and attractivness.

 

[WabbitPoo]

1. What does the manufacturer recommend?

2. You can't.

3. You must decide to which line the slabs will be parallel, and stick to it. Hard to say from the sketch. How about a photo?

I notice your nickname suggests you are in garden services. Gardening or landscaping?

 

[maplegardenservices1]

1. What does the manufacturer recommend?

2. You can't.

3. You must decide to which line the slabs will be parallel, and stick to it. Hard to say from the sketch. How about a photo?

I notice your nickname suggests you are in garden services. Gardening or landscaping?

1. The manufacturer recomends close jointing although i am considering using Romex (polymeric product) for the joints as one of the colours they have would really enhance the slabs effect althogh that depends on what the minimum mm width is for the product as i have not found that out yet.

2. Yea i know, i added that for humor....mostly. Il work on her.

3. I cannot do a photo but il add measurements to the photo if you like.

http://img697.imageshack.us/img697/1834/patiodesign2.jpg

I do HOME fencing, normal patio slabbing, turfing and block paving as well as garden clearance and mowing contracts but i have never used this type of slab before nor have i done a job with so many conflicting angles.

 

[Thermo]

looks like close jointed. personally i would go with that. i dont like the chemical pointing products. If its that close jointed as per the pictures then it will be filled with kiln dried.

with regards the alleyway, go down the route of you need to be able to drain the area and its best with gravel etc. might work

dont quite understand the sketch. the bottom line is youve got to pick a start point and a lay line that will look right from the best vantage points. Ie if it looks better from inside the conservatory looking out etc. You cant get it looking right from every angle so youve got to go with what will give the best result. a picture would be a bit more helpful. Whatever you do, get that bit right with the wife or you will never hear the end of it.

 

[r896neo]

On a similar project with odd angles which were going to leave diminishing edges i started at 45 degrees to the house, like a diamond pattern because it worked in with all the other walls.

sometimes if you can't hit a wall at 90deg you are better off being well away from it rather than have it look like it is just done wrong.

In the end it looked really good but the big drawback is the cuts take a long time.

 

[maplegardenservices1]

On a similar project with odd angles which were going to leave diminishing edges i started at 45 degrees to the house, like a diamond pattern because it worked in with all the other walls.

sometimes if you can't hit a wall at 90deg you are better off being well away from it rather than have it look like it is just done wrong.

In the end it looked really good but the big drawback is the cuts take a long time.

As far as the long cut back towards the house from the coni is concerned il just start/end it in such a position that i can lay full slabs and run my saw down a steel bar so the edge is perfect.

Its more about the fact that several of the connected corners i need to follow are not 90deg so il need to put mitre joint.

Im going to try and make a scale diagram that includes the courses of slabs ect so i can find the most attractive setup/cuts for where the angles change.

 

[maplegardenservices1]

Ok so heres a image that is almost to scale:

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/8548/drawings.jpg

The drawing does not show it but the cutting around the conservatory are larger than they look.

Including the path i should need roughly 100 x 600mm x 600mm slabs.

Im going to go to a builders yard and see how well they cut and il likely be using a rompox polymeric sand, either the very light or very dark one to bring out the colour of the Arctic Granite Dusk slabs.