Sandstoning the apron

part IV

The long lay

All the boundaries were in place and we had an edge to retain the crusher dust we were using to create a level bed to support the sandstone.

11 cubic metres of crusher dust were needed to create the level bed and it just wasn't possible to use a machine to get it into place.

The laying starts

There was a fair bit of labour wheelbarrowing the 11 cubic metres of crusher dust into place.

It took more time than it should (that word again!) as you can see by the growth in the garden.

Still, all things come to pass and a day dawned when the base had been leveled and compacted.

Technology versus tradition

Interestingly we hired a plate compactor for the final compaction and discovered - to our chagrin - that it did as good a job, but no better, than the ancient concrete roller we bought outright at wastebusters for one tenth the cost of a days hire of the compactor!

But it involved a lot more noise, expense, effort, pollution and panic at times than the trusty old roller.

Sometimes you just can't beat simplicity!!

As we were using a loose fill instead of grout, it was necessary to mortar between the sandstone forming the rim of the paving area.

Concerned at the potential water buildup in a storm we decided to add a drainage feature by inserting lengths of 12 mm poly pipe to let any buildup of water escape.

At the time I thought it was probably overkill but better safe than sorry was the wisdom of the moment.

It worked well in the next major deluge and is considered to be well worth the effort.

We laid the edging blocks first - these were generally cut to shape with a 9" grinder in a cloud of dust.

You can see a section of laying in progress - some finally placed slabs and some loosely located ones atop the crusher dust base.

The black plastic thing is the reservoir for a small pond outside the kitchen and clinic doors.

At last we have a clean path to the scullery in wet and dry weather - another sheer delight for us!

As we have learnt that the major problems with paths and driveways are caused by water, we were keen to make sure that the low point did not become soggy and possibly allow the sandstone to slowly sink into the bedding beneath it.

Once again - recycled poly pipe serve to create drainage and had worked well.

Once all the sandstone was in place, all that was left was to seal it with a clear stone sealant and fill the gaps with white quartz.

We were slightly concerned about the stones being trodden out onto the surface but figured that wouldn't be an insurmountable problem.

It wasn't for the humans, but we hadn't reckoned on the redistributive abilities of 2 Lhasa Apso puppies racing around the building at high speed.

The first downpour

As we were finishing the quartz infilling, the clouds gathered - it felt that the environment was keen to test our work - either that or a rainbow was being sent to bless it.