Patio Re-pointing

[Bon]

Hello chaps.

Now that the nice(r) weather is upon us my attentions have been moved outside.

We have a 5-ish year old Indian sandstone patio that has a step up to the house due to the garden slope and the flags are starting to wobble and the pointing is failing. It's about 25 square-metres.



The plan thus far is to chisel/grind out all of the existing mortar and re-point but the question is with what? I'm fairly certain that I don't want a dry mix as the flags come up really nicely when blasted with the pressure washer. I also don't think that various wet mix slurry types are any good for my application due to the pointing needed in the step/haunching.

So, I think I'm limited to a wet sand/cement mortar unless anyone can suggest anything else?

My Questions are;

What's the best sand:cement:water ratio?
Do I use a trowel or mastic gun?

Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[London Mike 49]

There is a lot of information on here; http://www.pavingexpert.com/pointing.htm

Mike

 

[Bon]

Thanks. I have looked at that site before but find that there is so much information on there it is very hard to come to a conclusion as to what suits my application best!

 

[r896neo]

There is zero point in repointing flags that are moving. The pointing will quickly fail again. You will need to re-lay any moving flags and then repoint.

Don't discount a slurry type product pretty much all of them can be used on steps/ uprights. You just need to let them go off a bit and then iron them in firmly or apply them dryish as needed (depends on the exact product)

25m is about doable with a pointing gun if you are patient. A semi dry mix will also work but be more laborious, if its not ironed in firmly it will not give as strong a joint either.

If money is very tight go for semi-dry mortar. Or buy a pointing gun and do that method.

If you have a few more pounds to spend then use marshalls weatherpoint 365 or similar polymeric

If you have lots of pounds to spend the top of the range are 2 part resin based mortars.

Personally I believe the resin or wet mortar through a pointing gun will be strongest and last longest.

If you are in anyway unsure about the patios long term stability then go for something cheaper.

 

[Bon]

Thanks. I should have added that I'll re-bed any loose flags before pointing.

Looks like I should re-evaluate the slurry products then!