From a 26 year old who's just had to redo the best advice is makes sure your paves/slab/stones are level to start with a few hours job turned into a full blown 2 day strip back and redo..prognosis they hadn't dug down deep enough to start with + incorrect foundations dog toys and cigarette buds dont have much hold lol but anyways this is great video for anyone who needs guidance and remember there old pathways there not supposed to be modern perfect machine cut these paths have character!!!! Love the video
Good video - the patio is very similar to the one I need to repair. Mine's very old, probably pre-war, maybe even as old as the house (1910) and it's in pretty poor shape. This video will be very useful, thanks.
This was def. the most informative I have seen. I tried the crush and sand, but the finish out looked much better with the cement. Thanks for the video.
EASIEST WAY TO MiX CEMENT: 1 Get a large flat board. 2 lay your sand out flat. 3 Sprinkle your concrete evenly over sand like you are icing a cake. 4 Turn it all with a square shovel to mix. Male a volcano. 5. Add water ... drag the mix in. Changed my life. No more barrows
exactly right. just pressure washed my flagstone patio last weekend and then applied a matte finish sealer afterwards. whoa! brought the backyard to life.
Remember If the gaps are too small the grout wont stick to the rock as well so when you use a high pressure water cleaner to clean the path you will " blow out" some of the grout
Main points of work to consider - The area around edge of stone where the grout was pointed did collect dirt and moss and it should have been flat finished to the stone, - The low section of path near the clothesline, three path rocks sunk a bit creating a soft part of the path when it rains, the path should have been built up a bit for drainage - Some small parts of the path grout did blow out when using a high pressure water cleaner
@@Duane77 Oh Yer don't have a recess, dirt and moss will grow in it ( the same problem as not having grout, make a dry mix and level the grout to the top of the path / stone ( on a dry warm day )
Yes good point however I thought the cement would be stronger than the stone and there would be no blow out with the high pressure water Gerny, and with all the rain I'm thinking maybe the cement isn't as strong these days, Ide definitely mix the grout strong with lime and cement, ( a lot of cement to sand ratio )
Good luck' and probably better to sweep the dry mix cement flat instead of pointing the edges, thin areas of cement in between stone blew out when using a high pressure water cleaner
My old path seems to just have mud between the stones. Can I put the grout straight on to that or do I have to put some sharp sand in first? Never done one before.
Yes the grout is good however dirt and moss did form on the area ( was washed off with a pressure cleaner ) where dirt built up in the low sections where the grout was pointed around the stone ( grout should just have been flat finished to rock ) and the new section at the lower end of the path where the clothes line is, three rocks sunk a bit forming a wet base with rain ( should have been built up ( slight high area ) to form run off and drainage ))
Just one other thing, I did experience some small areas of grout blowout with the high pressure water cleaner in some thin areas where the stones were close together
I havnt seen your path,if by stones you mean slab stones like the path in the video my guess would be that the path has settled over time, you would need to clear the mud around the stones and fill the gaps with some type of grout / cement. If by stones you mean small stones on a path ( crushed rock ) my guess would be you need to remove the stones and replace them with new clean ones,
I have a walkway similar to this but it just seems the grout has worn away and left with deep gaps. do I have to clean and brush around the rocks before laying down my sand mixture?
You could clean some dirt away from the stones use a hose to clean off the stones , once dry you could mix a very dry sand cement mixture and sweep it level with the tops of the stones Do a test and see how it gos, dont let any cement dry on the tops of the stones
If spec mix is concrete be careful of using it with sandstone ( especially quick set cement ) as I think concrete may cause salting ( it has with some of my work ) and eating away of sandstone, lime is good as a plasticizer ( makes it easier to work with, and the cement won't slump but I'm not sure if it causes salting ( a white powder that eats sandstone )) the work you see in this video is very successful the sand was a type of river washed sand and white cement, good luck, don't point the cement at the edge where the cement meets the stone because dirt will collect at that area ( keep the cement flat ), you could experiment with a very dry mix and fill the gaps between the rock and just brush the cement away from the tops of the rock but the mix will have to be very dry and you'll have to find the right cement, I don't know if it will work but it could. I don't think the video " gator dust application " will work because dirt will settle between the rock pavers
OK here's the low down, the dry cement should have been level with the stone pavers, I shouldn't have used the small tool to " point " the edge of the cement down onto the rock edges, there is some dirt around the edge of the rock pavers, apart from that it is a good clean job
From a 26 year old who's just had to redo the best advice is makes sure your paves/slab/stones are level to start with a few hours job turned into a full blown 2 day strip back and redo..prognosis they hadn't dug down deep enough to start with + incorrect foundations dog toys and cigarette buds dont have much hold lol but anyways this is great video for anyone who needs guidance and remember there old pathways there not supposed to be modern perfect machine cut these paths have character!!!! Love the video
Thank you! This is the exact info I needed for the exact same problem.
Good video - the patio is very similar to the one I need to repair. Mine's very old, probably pre-war, maybe even as old as the house (1910) and it's in pretty poor shape. This video will be very useful, thanks.
This was def. the most informative I have seen. I tried the crush and sand, but the finish out looked much better with the cement. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for prompt reply. Slab stones, but old and I am clearing the mud and letting it dry and will then grout. All questions answered.
EASIEST WAY TO MiX CEMENT:
1 Get a large flat board.
2 lay your sand out flat.
3 Sprinkle your concrete evenly over sand like you are icing a cake.
4 Turn it all with a square shovel to mix. Male a volcano.
5. Add water ... drag the mix in.
Changed my life. No more barrows
Pressure washer would've brought those slabs up 100% before applying the grout. Good work all the same!
exactly right. just pressure washed my flagstone patio last weekend and then applied a matte finish sealer afterwards. whoa! brought the backyard to life.
Thanks! I've started on my pathway - very similar to yours. Right now I have it all cleaned out and am debating between concrete and Polymeric sand.
Maybe a dry mix of sand and cement ???
Remember If the gaps are too small the grout wont stick to the rock as well so when you use a high pressure water cleaner to clean the path you will " blow out" some of the grout
Have you all seen flow point, uk product ,brilliant
Thanks very helpful - I have to repair a similar patio this spring and this answered a lot of questions :)
Main points of work to consider - The area around edge of stone where the grout was pointed did collect dirt and moss and it should have been flat finished to the stone,
- The low section of path near the clothesline, three path rocks sunk a bit creating a soft part of the path when it rains, the path should have been built up a bit for drainage
- Some small parts of the path grout did blow out when using a high pressure water cleaner
Thanks for the update. Helped me make a decision on filling the grout to the top of pavers vs leaving a recess. 👍
@@Duane77 Oh Yer don't have a recess, dirt and moss will grow in it ( the same problem as not having grout, make a dry mix and level the grout to the top of the path / stone ( on a dry warm day )
Great job, but I would have added more slab/ stone into the bigger areas..then went around it. But everyone to themselves...imo
Yes good point however I thought the cement would be stronger than the stone and there would be no blow out with the high pressure water Gerny, and with all the rain I'm thinking maybe the cement isn't as strong these days, Ide definitely mix the grout strong with lime and cement, ( a lot of cement to sand ratio )
The gaps are huge!! Smaller gaps look better and don't take so much mortar.
Tsju that's how it was
@@1966human I know.
Good job mate ,
Good job and thanx for the tips..
Nice. Tempting to do mine.
Good luck' and probably better to sweep the dry mix cement flat instead of pointing the edges, thin areas of cement in between stone blew out when using a high pressure water cleaner
What exactly is grout? It looks like wet sand.
Its just cement used as grout, I think tile grout would be similar but colored and finer sand
I tried this and within 6 months it just all crumbled away and weeds come through again
If what you say is true then the products you purchased are defective bigtime ! mine is still good 100%
Thanks this is a great help to get my project started
looks awesome Austpom333 great video thanks for the video
My old path seems to just have mud between the stones. Can I put the grout straight on to that or do I have to put some sharp sand in first? Never done one before.
How has the grout held up?
Yes the grout is good however dirt and moss did form on the area ( was washed off with a pressure cleaner ) where dirt built up in the low sections where the grout was pointed around the stone ( grout should just have been flat finished to rock ) and the new section at the lower end of the path where the clothes line is, three rocks sunk a bit forming a wet base with rain ( should have been built up ( slight high area ) to form run off and drainage ))
@@1966human thank you!
Just one other thing, I did experience some small areas of grout blowout with the high pressure water cleaner in some thin areas where the stones were close together
I havnt seen your path,if by stones you mean slab stones like the path in the video my guess would be that the path has settled over time, you would need to clear the mud around the stones and fill the gaps with some type of grout / cement. If by stones you mean small stones on a path ( crushed rock ) my guess would be you need to remove the stones and replace them with new clean ones,
I have a walkway similar to this but it just seems the grout has worn away and left with deep gaps. do I have to clean and brush around the rocks before laying down my sand mixture?
You could clean some dirt away from the stones use a hose to clean off the stones , once dry you could mix a very dry sand cement mixture and sweep it level with the tops of the stones
Do a test and see how it gos, dont let any cement dry on the tops of the stones
Thank you 🙏
Can I use spec mix too
If spec mix is concrete be careful of using it with sandstone ( especially quick set cement ) as I think concrete may cause salting ( it has with some of my work ) and eating away of sandstone, lime is good as a plasticizer ( makes it easier to work with, and the cement won't slump but I'm not sure if it causes salting ( a white powder that eats sandstone )) the work you see in this video is very successful the sand was a type of river washed sand and white cement, good luck, don't point the cement at the edge where the cement meets the stone because dirt will collect at that area ( keep the cement flat ), you could experiment with a very dry mix and fill the gaps between the rock and just brush the cement away from the tops of the rock but the mix will have to be very dry and you'll have to find the right cement, I don't know if it will work but it could. I don't think the video " gator dust application " will work because dirt will settle between the rock pavers
Really interesting!
cheers mate.
Very Good Cheers
what kind of cement do you use? thanks
With that one I think I used some type of " river wash " sand and white cement from the biggest hard ware outlet we have here
you made a mistake on the water, i was going to use water to but i was going to put some root weed killer for the soil to go down to
And in 3 months it will look the same as b 4 lol
OK here's the low down, the dry cement should have been level with the stone pavers, I shouldn't have used the small tool to " point " the edge of the cement down onto the rock edges, there is some dirt around the edge of the rock pavers, apart from that it is a good clean job