Indian sandstone patios. Thoughts?

[Guest]

Have just had quote for Indian sandstone patio. No idea if it reasonable.

I presume the quality and thickness of the slabs is important.

What questions should I ask, what do I need to know?

If you have one done is it sealed? Is it riven or smooth?

Also if you do have one what colour is it and are you happy with it.

I appear to be forking out an arm and half a leg so don't want the duff stuff for want of asking a few questions...😁

[cornishfrogboy]

I have laid 6, all riven and all purchased at best price on eBay. I am a big fan of Indian green and all 6 were as such.

They were all of mixed sizes and laid to random pattern. The truth is that the pattern is anything but random, but can be easily downloaded on a google search.

It is important to seal the stones as they are a porous material and as such, can stain. You can also see that they have a tendency to exfoliate. If damp gets in and then freezes, it can cause this exfoliation. No great issue in Cornwall, but clearly a factor elsewhere.

Sandstone slabs tend to vary in thickness between 18mm or so and 25 plus in the same pack.. they usually arrive an a pallet with a frame built on it. This causes issues in laying. If I am laying poured cement tiles, then it is a simple matter to lay hardcore, Use a plank to roughly level and then use a ‘whacker’ to compact it, before levelling and filling again.. and again. All tiles are then simply laid as they are all the same thickness. With sandstone of various thicknesses, you prepare as before and then have to further adjust the depth for each individual tile. This takes time and therefore more money.

When cement pointing, it is time consuming as the tiles can be prone to ‘cement wash’ . Sponging each piece several times is required. I always seal the tiles before doing the pointing in order to help this process.

Summary.
I guess that you are employing a person(s) to do the whole job. I would get a price, but supply the tiles myself. The cost of labour will be higher than for conventional poured tiles for the reasons listed above.
Is it worth it? Too right. A well laid, natural sandstone patio looks absolutely awesome with its varying shades.

[kiwiinabd]

We have an indian sandstone patio.

We specified the make & colour to the companies bidding for the work (I think they were from Bradstone)

Make sure each stone is laid onto a full bed of cement (not four dabs).

I need to pressure wash the stones at least once a year as they get filthy ! They come up a great colour after cleaning.

After 15 years I have had a couple of pavers crack but generally it is in a good state. The pointing is now cracked in quite a few places so I do get some weed growth that needs to be killed every now & then !

[LLamb]

We have Indian stone paving. I ordered the slabs myself online and then got somebody to lay them. Worked out a lot cheaper this way. I think we paid around £1k for the stone and then another £1.5k to lay. 25m2.
As above they came on a pallet with a frame. Roughly the same thickness but random as it’s cut stone.
They have been done about 8 years now and still look great.
As above our pointing has a few cracks here and there but not bad at all.

I would definitely get it sealed, I need to clean ours and seal it. We got the dark grey/black colour. But it very grey atm.

[Guest]

Thank you all. Very helpful.
I am leaning towards an all in one approach so getting someone in to make it and provide all the slabs etc as well as laid rather than me buying the slabs and getting someone in to lay them iyswim. But that's only because I hadn't thought of doing it that way. It's a moderately big size. Around 45m2 and there would be a bit of an issue about getting it delivered on time and stored possibly.

Consensus seems to be to seal. Do you do this before laying or afterwards? I have read somewhat conflicting advice on that.

Also sounds as though all pointed not just butted up?

Also need a small wall around the patio. Grass is around a foot roughly higher than he patio. I asked about drainage and builders are suggesting putting weep holes in the walls. Won't this just make a stream of muddy water go over my patio? The implications of that given slime references above are not appealing, esp as possibly going for a paler Raj.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

We have it as a patio, steps down to the lawn area and a path to the bottom of the garden.

I agree it looks very nice albeit not my choice. I did as I was told!

Some issues to be aware of:-

• It stains/gets dirty far more than traditional slabs
• It needs sealing on the back and edges before laying. That will take half a day!
• It can get slippery.
• When laid it needs sealing - plus every 2 years at least
• Maintenance cost

I use LTP colour enhancer and sealer which helps it shrug off the dirt. not cheap

I cleaned mine yesterday with Patio Magic. That was £38 for 10litres. I will try Asda bleach next time at a fraction of the cost!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

We have it as a patio, steps down to the lawn area and a path to the bottom of the garden.

I agree it looks very nice albeit not my choice. I did as I was told!

Some issues to be aware of:-

• It stains/gets dirty far more than traditional slabs
• It needs sealing on the back and edges before laying. That will take half a day!
• It can get slippery.
• When laid it needs sealing - plus every 2 years at least
• Maintenance cost

I use LTP colour enhancer and sealer which helps it shrug off the dirt. not cheap

I cleaned mine yesterday with Patio Magic. That was £38 for 10litres. I will try Asda bleach next time at a fraction of the cost!

See more...

I think I have seen a picture of your patio previously MrTM it looks beautiful. You mentioned slippy, are your slabs riven or sawn smooth, do you think that makes a difference ?

Lastly maintenance cost? What other than cleaning and possibly sealing needs to be done to maintain it that's costly?

Edit - thank you for the new pictures. I was right it looks lovely! It looks smooth I think. Might I ask what colourway that is?

Sorry, one last thing. I like the pattern of laying visible in the top picture. Is that the standard random pattern CFB mentioned above or a different one?

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by FamilyGWales

I think I have seen a picture of your patio previously MrTM it looks beautiful. You mentioned slippy, are your slabs riven or sawn smooth, do you think that makes a difference ?

Lastly maintenance cost? What other than cleaning and possibly sealing needs to be done to maintain it that's costly?

Edit - thank you for the new pictures. I was right it looks lovely! It looks smooth I think. Might I ask what colourway that is?

See more...

Ours are sawn smooth and yes that makes them more slippery.

The problem is my Wife wants them to look like the kitchen floor! They never will be though as that's the very nature of external projects.

We all know the weakest part of the chain with slabs is the pointing. No matter how well it's done, no matter who does it or what is used it will crack and eventually need replacing.

The new products that have a different composition than the traditional sand and cement are getting better all the time.

Would these slabs be my choice? No. I prefer block pavers such as used on a drive.

Why? No pointing, easy to clean and a huge range of sizes/colours. Plus cheaper to buy and lay, more durable and don't need sealing.

Edit. I will dig the receipt out but I am 99% certain it's called mint green which it certainly doesn't look like! Very much a fawn colour in my view.

Edit. Mine is the pattern they all lay to and I suspect CFB has as well. It's on Google as he says. Mine came with an A4 piece of paper under the plastic covering the pallet.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

This is what I like. Pinched from Marshalls website.

Driveset/Driveline as opposed to the traditional 'brick shape' paviers used for drives.

[Guest]

I do like that too esp as it's not standard sized pavers.

DH is v keen on the sandstone version though. Or poss just the idea of it 😁 maintenance bits might out him off...