pointing flagstones

[Anonymous]

hello, relayed orginal flafstone floor, pointing with lime mortar, but very messy, whats best to clean off residue on top edge of flags, as pointing trowel pushes it up sides.poss is mixture to soft.and whats best to seal and what wax thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Try to avoid getting the stuff on to the stone as far as possible - if you can mask off it helps. A cheap roll of gaffer tape id more useful and more sticky than masking tape. A very narrow pointing trowel helps too.

What we have done is to leave it a day then a rub with a metal scouring pad and water (the stainless sort not a Brillo). This helped get the residue off and also exposed the aggregate in the mortar (go gently!) and it looks rather better.

Once it was dry then more rubbing with a coarse green scouring pad (the sort you buy for pans) helped along with soapy water.

Sealing - are the flags on top pf earth/sand?