Garden Wall Project - help required

[spiidey]

Thanks again. Some more queries:-

1. Whilst we were cutting some of our slabs to square off the circle, there was quite a bit of "dust" coming from the off cuts which when wet became a very fine slurry. This settled on the Type 1 but has been mostly washed into the ground with the rain over the last few days. Is this ok?

2. The Type 1 we had to scrape back as a result of me measuring the levels incorrectly, well once it was scraped back it left enough depth for 40-50mm mortar and that was based on 40mm thick slabs (so we had a total depth of 80-90mm). And what did the missus end up choosing? 20mm slabs!!! Which means we've now got a large section that will need 60-70mm depth filled (possibly even 80mm filled if I've not levelled it off absolutely correctly) with mortar bedding. Is this allowable or does this provide some sort of uncertain compaction at this depth of mortar fill? We've still got leftover Type 1 that we could barrow/shovel/compact back in ....

3. Finally, is it possible to get a dark brown pre-blended pointing mortar / slurry / resin mix, similar to the Marshalls weatherpoint 365 that comes in buff colour? Can't find one anywhere!

 

[r896neo]

As long as your using a grit sands bed based mortar 70mm will be ok but is a waste of time and money and begins to get difficult to work with as it turns into a soup when tapping flags down. If you do it make the mortar a little stiffer. Its always quicker to add some extra hardcore than it is making loads of extra mortar.

The dust is no problem.

As for resin mortars the main players are

GTFK VDW range
Rompox D1 (not rompox easy, its crap)
Nexxuss
Weatherpoint 365

Try each for colours.

 

[r896neo]

light sandy buff and charcoal are the most common so dont know about brown. Jointing is often better if its a contrast anyway.

 

[spiidey]

Thanks again. Will check out the resin mortar suppliers.

Re the 60-70mm depth we need to work with, I agree it would be best to get this down to 40-50mm by adding hardcore of 20mm throughout.

Do we need a vibrating plate to compact the 20mm we're laying, or can we use the large hand tamper we have for the job?

 

[r896neo]

your hand tamper will be fine.

 

[spiidey]

So no issues with e.g. uneven compaction, with the hand tamper?

 

[r896neo]

not at that thin layer depth. it wouldnt be good for any more than say 2".

 

[spiidey]

Another haunching query.

We're taking our flags up to near the neighbours fence (see red line on pic below. The flags will therefore extend out as far to the right hand side of the picture as the top brick on the "bottom" wall). What haunching do we need here?

To the right of the red line, the type 1 slopes downwards at roughly 45 degrees.

 

[r896neo]

Really rather than just heap type one in there you should really have a solid edging. Create an edge to the sub base by raking some of it out near the fence and mix it up into a lean concrete. You can use a board as a shutter to keep it a few inches off the fence and pour your concrete against that.

 

[spiidey]

Thank you as always.

How wide / deep should the concrete be?

 

[r896neo]

just make it the same depth as the sub base and 6 inches wide. can be a weak mix like 6 mot 2 sand 1 cement

 

[spiidey]

Trying to cut 22mm sandstone with a stihl saw - the saw just seems to stop as soon as the blade touches the surface of the stone.

Is there something that I need to do to enable the saw to cut?

Or do I need another power tool?

 

[r896neo]

the belt might be loose. you tube how to tighten the belt on a stihl saw. If its hired though they should have done it.

 

[spiidey]

Almost there with the job now. Final part for next weekend is to lay turf.

What is the correct height for turf, in relation to the top of the slabs we've laid?

And, when preparing the ground, how much depth should we allow to accommodate the turf (ie how thick is the turf / grass)?

 

[r896neo]

If the paving falls onto the grass, i.e. drains to there then keep it 40mm low. If not then prepare your bed for turf about 10mm lohan the flags so when laid it will sit level or a fraction above. If the soil has been turned over etc then it will settle an inch-ish.

Turf is about 1 inch thick depending on supplier and time of year.