Please can you help a beginner,
I have taken a few days off work to repair a small patio area to take a bench arbour (200cm by 80 cm approx) but after digging out to prepare the base for it, half of it is thick soggy mud and so I am frustrated and stuck (literally!). As the area is small I have borrowed a sledge hammer and hand tamper but I can't tamper the mud and I just sink into it! I can't dig out all the mud as it just seems to go on forever (I tried going down to 30cm but it was still soaking). Should I keep waiting for it to dry out (will it EVER dry out here in sunny England?).
Should I just pour in the sub-base and hope it will help everything to dry out? I can't change where the bench is to be sited as it is central and the previous owners had a small patio area there before. The bench area is at the bottom of the garden (the only bit that gets any sun). The problem was two of the tiles had cracked and when I dug it out I found they had only laid the slabs on sand and so things seemed to have moved.
What can I do about my muddy problem please?
I was planning to lay 7cm of sub-base material and then cement on top but the advisor at the DIY store said he would just use sub-base material with a 1cm depth of sharp sand - placing the stone slabs on top and finishing with a new pointing product that is just brushed into the spaces between. He said this would be easier for a beginner to keep the slabs flat and even. Does that sound right too please?
Thanks for any advice,
Max
I have taken a few days off work to repair a small patio area to take a bench arbour (200cm by 80 cm approx) but after digging out to prepare the base for it, half of it is thick soggy mud and so I am frustrated and stuck (literally!). As the area is small I have borrowed a sledge hammer and hand tamper but I can't tamper the mud and I just sink into it! I can't dig out all the mud as it just seems to go on forever (I tried going down to 30cm but it was still soaking). Should I keep waiting for it to dry out (will it EVER dry out here in sunny England?).
Should I just pour in the sub-base and hope it will help everything to dry out? I can't change where the bench is to be sited as it is central and the previous owners had a small patio area there before. The bench area is at the bottom of the garden (the only bit that gets any sun). The problem was two of the tiles had cracked and when I dug it out I found they had only laid the slabs on sand and so things seemed to have moved.
What can I do about my muddy problem please?
I was planning to lay 7cm of sub-base material and then cement on top but the advisor at the DIY store said he would just use sub-base material with a 1cm depth of sharp sand - placing the stone slabs on top and finishing with a new pointing product that is just brushed into the spaces between. He said this would be easier for a beginner to keep the slabs flat and even. Does that sound right too please?
Thanks for any advice,
Max
