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Ah ok that makes sense, thanks for clearing it up.

I'll try starting with more water today and see how I get on.

I'll check the bag later. Its defo not old stuff. My usual method has been to add a small amount of water, half the sand, half the cement, bit of water, add the rest of the sand and then rest of cement and then water to dampen the mix.

I've had it a couple of weeks but its a fresh opened bag every few mixes.

Can someone advise me on why cement would ball up like this in a mixer and how to avoid it? Thanks.

What does 'not locked in' mean? I know for sure that I wasn't wetting the slabs - this was not something I'd taken note of from the many how-to's I've read in preparation for this project. What I've done now is to shave the bed. So taking off around 15-20mm of the previous mix and then making...

Thanks very much. I tried to keep people off for 24hrs. Have just been and got some PVA so will give this ago. Fingers crossed! Thanks for your help.

How did you do the cement and pva slurry? Would you mind giving me the directions for this and it could save me quite a bit of time if I can ‘lift and stick’ the slabs without the need for digging out the bed and relaying. Thanks.

Got quite a few days through laying a patio and have found that some of the slabs aren’t sticking. A couple are wobbly which we can’t see why as they’re on a full bed. 6:1 sharp sand damp mix. I’ve got some on a step with a 4:1 builder sand and they are stuck solid. Is it worth lifting the...

Thanks will look into that

So I’m a few days into my patio laying and have been wondering what I can use to fill the small gaps that some slabs have between them. The slabs are but jointed but due to imperfections some have.m a small gap. Is there a liquid or resin type of grout on the market that could be used? Thanks.

The slabs are butt jointed. I’ll avoid the rain I think, and pray for some good weather this half term so I can get outside and crack on in the dry. I’ll be laying on a full bed as heard bad things of spot laying.

The weather doesn’t look too great next week and I really need to be cracking on with getting the patio laid. I’ve got all the sharp sand and cement here ready to go. I’m still trying to decide on a damp or dry mix for the base (would be keen to hear your preferences and reasons why), but my...

Its more about support for the block going over the pipe, which will be base of the step

Thanks, I’ll hopefully get it encased tomorrow

So just cover it with hardcore and place the blocks on that?

So could I just use a thick bed of mortar over it or something like that? Would I be best building in levels before placing the block?

So we decided that the aco drain would look better against the house rather than at the end of the step onto the patio, but this has introduced its own set of issues. I’ve got the drain laid bit would like to get some suggestions on how best to lay steps over it. I intend to use concrete blocks...

Great thanks for confirming. I think where it’s dried out the dust has just lifted out as it’s mainly where we’ve been walking. I’ve dampened and thrown a bit of small stuff on it and it’s looking a load better.

So I’ve whackered my MOT1 sub base for the patio and some bits are lovely and firm. Others where there are large stones mainly seem loose on the top later. It’s firm under foot but just these big stones seem to be loose. Is that normal just because they don’t have a good mix in that area? Does...