Pointing stone patio

[paulb33]

Hi All,

Anyone have recommendations for pointing a stone patio? Previously, the sand/cement pointing has deteriorated fast - needing raking out every 2 years or so. I'm looking for something flexible, permeable, frost resistant. The holy grail, basically. :roll:

Someone mentioned Geofix, which I'm looking into. Any other recommendations?

Regards,

Paul

 

[plasticpigeon]

I'd have thought cement mortar would be the best thing for that job.

 

[88v8]

Fraid it needs to be solid bedded on a crushed rock base & at least 2" of concrete. If it's just sitting on sand, no rigid pointing will survive.

And then, the pointing has to be pretty hard; for looks, our drive and crazied front garden was done in broken 2" paving slab pointed in cement and soft sand because I wanted brown pointing to match the pebbledash, but the frost knackered it and every summer there were bits needed redoing. Should have been cement and sharp.

Ivor

 

[Moo]

Why does it have to be pointed with something impervious at all? Why not fill the cracks with soil?
That's what we did in our last house, and it was perfectly satisfactory - and we never had a problem with heavy rainfall sloshing around on the surface.

 

[a twig]

Why does it have to be pointed with something impervious at all? Why not fill the cracks with soil?
That's what we did in our last house, and it was perfectly satisfactory - and we never had a problem with heavy rainfall sloshing around on the surface.

Ours is the same, just stones laid on sand - "pointed" with soil. Requires a weed every couple of months over the summer - and has the added bonus that when invariably a tree stump I am removing has roots that go across underneath, or a drain gets block and there's no access, I can just lift the relevant slab.

 

[paulb33]

Yes, I was wondering about using soil (or sand etc.) too. There are some ground covering plants that might look nice. Only hesitation is that the slabs are laid on sand/cement over rubble. The water has been pooling.
Paul

 

[essexbearhunter]

A sand and rubble foundation sounds good for drainage (one of my patios is laid on about 2 foot layer of brick rubble) unless the following apply:

1/ You are already in a low spot (when the Council raised the footpath, the path to my front door - stone slabs laid on sand - collected water when it rained heavily. I only cured it by raising my path with extra ballast and sand)

2/ You haven't given the water somewhere to go. Patios next to a building normally have a slight fall away from the building to prevent water building up at the base of a wall. The beauty of this is that, even with a totally impermeable patio, rain will flow off the patio (unless you have created low spots within the patio).

Since pointing is only a thin layer - easily broken if the stone starts to wobble - you either need a base that is sufficiently firm to secure the stones and allow the pointing to unify the surface+reduce weed growth between the stones
or concentrate on the foundation to provide the drainage. The most stripped-back version of the latter being stepping stones set in gravel where all your drainage issues (1 & 2) are tackled in the gravel layer rather than in the stones themselves .
The only drawback to planting between the stones in damp areas is that the individual stones may become low spots, surrounded by little thrusting "fences" of plant growth and trap water unless the gaps are sufficiently wide. Wider soil bands are easier to weed too.

Just my thoughts on this Sunday morning.