Laying Patio: Wet Mix or Sand Bed?

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There are lots of posts about this but none seem to explain the benefits of either method.

I was planning on laying a new patio (38mm thick concrete slab paving) on 100mm of MOT compacted hardcore and 40mm of compacted sharp sand.

However several posts say to use just the MOT and bed the flags on a wet mix of sand and cement? Is this a better method?

Our ground is clay.
 
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Short answer- yes, it IS a better method, especially for the home enthusiast (or numpty, as some would call us)
 
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That "groundforce team" mix of 4sharp:2builders:1cement works pretty well.
 
Sharp can hold more of a weight on it while you lay it, buidlers mixed in to give a bit of play. That's the way that it's explained, and that's good enough for me. I've done it that way a few times and it works well.

The one thing I would suggest is that if possible you use wet mortar to do the joints while you lay the slabs (unless you're worried of staining them), since dry mix brushed in afterwards doesn't seem to compact so well and will be easily washed out.
 
thanks for your answers everyone. i am half way through the job! takes longer than i thought.
 

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