Can I put this under my Patio?

[NAILER]

Hi All,

Got the bulk of my patio laid last year and just have the area by the shed to do now.

My question is - when doing the main area I went a bit wrong and pulled all the slabs up and the bedding mix and started again.

Can I put the old bedding mix under the area that I still have to lay rather than just throwing it away?

Thanks,

Mike.

 

[Always Learning]

Hi Mike

Some people level up soil and throw slabs straight down but it isn't the best way.

I would say usually sand and gravel would be used with a plastic membrane to stop weeds, then slabs on top with blobs of cement under to level up and then point up between slabs (this is the way I have done it in the past but it might not be the best method)

You can throw whatever you want under the ground, dig a hole and fill with rubble if needed so long as the slabs are solid and level for when the shed is placed on them.

To be honest a lot of sheds will have what they call hardcore under them - usually broken up bits of bricks and stuff, some use dolomite and compact it down with a whacker.

Placing the bits of broken cement wont be a bad thing but I would say how good is the soil?

I ask because if you ever want to use it again as garden for plants - you would have to dig out and clean up all the broken concrete, think also of anyone who might buy the house at a later date.

If the soil/garden area is really good quality I might bag up the concrete bits and skip them - If the soil is bad quality dig a hold and throw them in then level it up.

That's my input - I am sure others will think a lot different.

Let us know how you get on.

 

[WabbitPoo]

What WAS the bedding mix? If it was a sand/cement mortar bed (the ONLY good way of laying, IMHO) then by all means break it up and whack it down. What you seek is a material that will have a good mix of small, medium and large particles. Crushed hardcore, for example, does not have the finer dust that you need to make a binding layer.

While I am here, avoid using 5 blobs etc as described cos it'll go wrong. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon. Plenty of posts on here about how to lay slabs.

 

[NAILER]

Hi,

Thanks for the replies - yes it was a solid mortar mix. I laid this but then started to go a bit off line so pulled it all up, came up in large chnks but I thought that rather than hiring a skip I could just smash it up under the bit I still have to lay. BTW, the shed is already there, this is for the patio in front of the shed.

Thanks again, sounds like I can use it!!!!