1) MATERIALS NEEDED Builders Trowel Shovel Rubber Mallet Angle Grinder Spirit Level Wooden Batton Paving Stones Hardcore Sharp Sand Cement Sweeping Brush Joint it compound
2) PLANNING & PREPARATION PLANNING - MAKE A DRAWING, PLANNING YOUR GARDEN HOW YOU WILL LAY YOUR NATURAL INDIAN SANDSTONE PAVING Draw a plan of how your garden paving will look PREPERATION - PREPARE THE AREA WHERE YOU ARE LAYING YOUR NATURAL INDIAN SANDSTONE Using pegs & string mark out the area in your garden where your paving stones will be laid See Drainage section on setting the fall on your paving Dig out this section Depth around 150mm for a good foundation
Your base for the paving will consist of 75mm Hardcore & 75mm Foundation mix (see laying paving for mix guide) plus the thickness of the paving stone Ensure you measure the depth of your paving stone before you dig out the section as you don't want your paving to be lower than ground level Fill the section with hardcore around 75mm this will be the base for your paving Use a wacker plate or a wooden batten to firm & compact the base You should now have the foundation to lay your paving See the laying paving section for the next step
3) DRAINAGE DRAINAGE - WHEN LAYING PAVING ENSURE IT HAS SUFFICIENT DRAINAGE, THIS IS WHAT WE CALL "SETTING THE FALL". Setting the Fall To ensure rain water drains off your slate paving (Natural Indian Sandstone) & away from your home, your paving must have a built in slope running away from your house, the slope will not be visible to the eye. An ideal gradiant will be around 1 in 60 - a fall of 1mm in every 60mm of distance. You will need: 1 wooden batten, 2 metres in length. 2 wooden pegs Spirit level Hammer a wooden peg into the ground near the house where your slate paving (Natural Indian Sandstone) will begin, rest your wooden batten on this peg, at the other end of the batten hammer the second wooden peg into the ground a little further than the first peg. Rest your 2 metre wooden batten on the pegs & using your spririt level you can make the appropriate adjustments setting the fall for your slate paving. The bubble on the spirit level should just touch the outer line in its window setting the fall for your slate paving in an ideal 1mm in 60mm.
4) LAYING PAVING LAYING PAVING STONES - A GUIDE TO LAYING PAVING STONES (NATURAL INDIAN SANDSTONE) Mixing the mortar - mix 3/4 parts sharp sand to 1 cement. Lay this over the hardcore. Bed it down using a length of timber. Check that you have allowed enough room for your paving stones. Start in one corner laying your paving stone onto the bed of mortar. Place your spirit level on top of the paving stone. Using a rubber mallet gently tap the paving stone into place. Check that the level is right on the spirit level. (Remember to allow for the fall) Repeat process until all tiles have been placed.
Natural Stone Laying Paving Flags Remember to select paving from different packs as you go along. This enables colour blending and will help to alleviate any shade variations that may occur between packs, giving your design a Natural look. Paveworld strongly recommends sealing the underside of natural stone paving prior to laying with a PVA sealant. This will deter the possibility of surface staining on the flag face which can be caused by the drawing up of salts from the cement through more porous stone such as Fossil. Depending on your ground type (see Site Preparation and Foundation section above) use a mixing board to make up a slightly wet mortar bedding mix of 1 part cement to 5 parts of building sand. Peg out several string lines so as to establish the desired level of the patio incorporating a slight fall for water run off for drainage. Start flag laying from a corner or straight edge. Paveworld recommends that each paving flag is individually laid on a full mortar bed and that the 5 spot method is not adopted (See below). The full mortar bed method enables any variation in thickness of individual slab to be taken up. A full mortar bed to cover the base of the flag is placed over the sub base, the flag laid chamfered edge down if it has one and tamped level to follow the string line with a rubber mallet. Double check alignment with a spirit level and once happy, move on to laying the next flag and repeating the process Continuous checking of levels and falls should be on-going during the laying process and should be taken across the top surface profile of a number of slabs. Before proceeding too far, it is important to equalize slab spacing, gently shuffle the slab with a twist of the trowel until the joints look even.
5) FILLING THE JOINTS A GUIDE TO FILLING THE JOINTS USING THE JOINT IT COMPUND, Watch Video https://youtu.be/4ykddtefzeu 1 Joint It Make sure all joints are cleaned out to a minimum depth of 20mm(minimum joint width of 3mm) and are also clear of any dirt. Pre-wet area prior to spreading fixing mortar. 2 Pour Out Open the lid of the container and pour pointing mortar immediately onto area. 3 Work in with Squeegee or Broom Using a squeegee or street broom spread joint it evenly, work in so that it goes into the joints deep and compacted.
4 Add More Water Add more water sparingly help the joint it flow into joints. 5 Work In Working diagonally across the joints ensure joint it has penetrated all joints. 6 Final Cleaning Clean the surface carefully with a fine hair broom so that all joint it residue is removed. Always sweep diagonally across joint. Any residual material can be swept off 24 hours after application with broom. Take care not to brush product out of joints or into nearby drains. Joint-It will harden into joints within 30 minutes at over 20 deg cel. Lower temperatures will increase hardening time. Surface can be walked on approximately 24 hrs at temperatures of approx 20 degrees.