Fixing loose patio steps.

Seeing as it’s spring, I’ve been cleaning up the garden, including jetwashing the patio. A couple of slabs on steps are loose. What is best to bond them down?

How were they fitted before? Probably on a mortar bed. If it’s just come unstuck then I’d dig out as much of the old mortar as possible, then a new bit of mortar, 4:1 sand:cement, level it, job done. Use a full bed of mortar rather than a few dots. If something had moved then this should still work but it might be worth investigating more so it doesn’t happen again.

Watching with interest because I have a number of loose ones as well that I need to sort out.

I was actually going to try and sort them out last spring, but just when I found out the product that I needed to fix them the lockdown came along.

OP – the first thing that you need to find out is how the slabs were laid, are they just laid on sand or on blobs (daubs?) of cement on a hardcore base.

Sand is easy, you just lift them, top up with sand and replace the slab.

The cement and hardcore ones are a bit more involved.

Whilst writing this I have been trying to remember the product to use, but I can’t.

Anyway, you could either lift up the slabs, clear the cement from them and replace on fresh daubs of cement.

Or, you could use the ready made product. This would require you again lifting the slabs and clearing the worst of the cement away. You then lay the product and make sure it is flat. Then put the slab down and slightly moisten the area around the slab(s). Cover the slab(s) with plastic sheeting or a tarpaulin and leave for a number of days. By this time the product would have absorbed more moisture and gone solid.

They are on a mortar base – it’s the steps on a brick built base that are loose.