Patio with resin based mortar

[Blackartz]

The local paving company who maintains our drive has been asked to re-grout a section of one of our patios. Its not particularly level, or flat and having had furniture left on it over a few winters, the frost has damaged the existing grout and some of the stones. its looking pretty sorry for itself.

The paving guy has suggested using a resin based mortar because it should last longer than a cement based grout.

I'm rather concerned that this will make things worse in the long run as I'm guessing the resin won't be breathable. The patio comes up to the outside of the kitchen wall, which is old brickwork with a thin layer of render on top. The render is cracking off in a multitude of places and thanks to this site, I'm fairly sure that the patio being laid up against it, is contributing to this too. Budget and practicality mean we can't just do away with the patio at the moment, much as I'd like to, but surely a decent breathable grout would help the situation? Is lime mortar suitable for a heavy traffic area like this?

 

[Feltwell]

Bit difficult to envisage without pictures, but.....

- Resin grout seems to work well. My parent's sandstone patio was relaid with it after the original grout failed and it seems to be holding up well.
- I can't see why breathability of grout on a patio should make any difference.
- if you re-grout just a section rather than the whole patio it will always look a bit odd, although with a bit of dirt it will become less noticeable over time
- if the patio is too close to the house wall & too high but you don't want to go down the route of relaying the whole patio at a lower height, I'd consider asking your "paving guy" to cut a section about 6-8" wide out at the edge of the patio with a diamond disc, dig out and then refill to a lower height with some gravel. Not the perfect solution but better than what you've got now by the sound of it. It will allow the wall to breathe a bit.

 

[Blackartz]

Thanks Fetlwell,
although I would have liked to use NHL 5 lime mortar as it might have had some positive impact, he ended up using cement anyway as it was the only way he could match it to the remaining grout and as I said, we couldn't pull the whole lot up on this occasion anyway. At some point in the future I'll certainly be be re-grouting it anyway, so I can have a go with the lime at that point.

Interestingly, your suggestion of cutting a channel beside the wall was something I'd been considering doing myself. I will definitely give this a go this summer, but am hoping to find a good way of lining it a bit, to stop the loose material under the patio just refilling it (I'm thinking roof tiles). I suspect I'll also need to put a grating of some sort on top of the void to keep the leaves, pets, kids and various other kinds of gunk out of it