I’m after some advice on getting my patio looking a little tidier than it currently is and I know there are some clever DIY’ists and professionals on here.

I was going to go down the route of buying some of this patio jointing compound stuff that you brush in wet and then brush off as it seems relatively straightforward to apply.. Then I looked at the price of it @ £40 a tub and realised I’d need at least 3 tubs given the large (1 inch) gaps between the flags.

So, I think I’m going to go down the old fashioned route of pointing it using a 3 or 4 to 1 ratio of sharp sand to cement with a very dry mix only using a small amount of water, compressing into joints with a trowel, finishing with a jointer and then brushing off excess a few hours later.

Conscious that this will be cheaper but take longer.. but is that a decent plan? Is it ill-advised or have a I missed anything?

Any guidance or comments greatly appreciated.
Cheers.

The 3 to 1 sounds like a plan, it’s what the guys who did my pipes (fnarr) did last year, though it makes the area they didn’t do look bad now. I made sure I knew the source of the sand though, so when I get around to renovating the rest the colour should match.

The most long lasting way to lay, is in one continuous bed of mortar. So the bed is ‘at one’ with the pointing. Anything else will have a limited lifespan in comparison. Other than that just get the mortar off the slabs before it sets, otherwise it’ll look a mess. A pic of the existing job would help.

Thanks both. That’s helpful and I’ll get some pics up when I’m back home. It’s an existing patio that I’m trying to tidy up for a few years so I’ll not be lifting the flags but will ensure the gaps are properly cleaned out – most of the mortar is long gone but still some to chip away.

Check out the paving expert http://www.pavingexpert.com/pointing.htm

what punkrockdad said. Do it properly with wet mortar.

Get a pressure washer on it first. It’ll give you a bigger job, but it’ll get rid of the crappy stuff that’s about to crumble, and means you won’t be doing the job again next year, with different sand and another shade of mortar.

Childhood summers spent pressure washing crazy paving, lifting slabs, picking out old mortar with a drill, cold chisel, bolster and lump hammer, mixing mortar, relaying and repointing.

I went past the old house a few years ago. All tarmac. Not surprised!

Cheers for the link Natrix – theres a lot more science there than I’d given credit!

Cheers Ned – was planning on jet washing, forgot to mention that. It’s a messy job but one that needs doing nonetheless!

colour matching – missed your point about the sand sourcing, but even given that, the sand you get will be from a different part of the pit and is likely to be a little different to what the builders used originally. And the mix is going to affect the colour too. You can always try a sample 3:1 mix and wait a week for it to cure and see how close you are.

You might get some salt coming out as it dries, so bear that in mind when you’re comparing the colours.

I’m not much of a DIYer but opted for the hand pointing method and it was quite therapeutic once I got going. Ipod and knee pads on (get some) and several hours passed by quite happily. It’s lasted 5 yrs so far but I’d *happily do it again in a few years time. Dryish mix works best and doesn’t mark your flags.

*only when unavoidable

I recently did ours. Well, I laid the patio and then pointed it, rather than repointing it but I managed to get so much mortar squidged up the side of the stones that I had to clear it out first.

Top tip, to remove the old stuff get one of these for your grinder, no more chiselling and messing about.

I used the resin stuff, yes it was expensive but it only took around an hour to do the whole patio and it looks excellent. There is no way I’d have got a decent finish using mortar, and I would have got it all over the stones.

Get a mortar gun from Screwfix

Thanks for all the responses above. Colour matching is not an issue as I’m not lifting the flags and this is just a patch up on a patio with a limited life span.. plus I’m going to do the whole lot as there’s literally nothing left of the original mortar.

BigJohn – Do you think the mortar gun will work with such a dry mix? Or is the gun assuming I’m going to use a wet mortar? I think a wet mortar will be too messy for an amateur like me!

Cheers

Wet mortar only. But I put up some brick slips (bricks cut down to make 15mm thick faces, round corners too to make them look like real bricks, but just a facing) in a kitchen, using tile adhesive. They’re rustic faces but the mortar gun made a very tidy job of pointing.

If you want to use a dry mix to avoid mess, make sure that the surface of the slabs has dried thoroughly so that you can brush it. Rougher surfaces will hold dry mix
I think that a wet mix will give a better finish, and the mortar gun should keep it all neat; the mortar gun has plastic nozzles that aren’t obvious from the image ^^

Cheers all. We’ll phase 1 is complete.. about 50% of the original mortar was already gone but grinding/raking out the remaining and then jet washing was a much bigger job than originally anticipated!! Thankfully I’ve roped me owld man into helping me re point it tomo..

Question is given some of the gaps are inch and half what should I use as a brick jointer given th big gap? I can’t find a tool that wide.. will try and get some photos of the job on here.

Cheers

Have done a few diy pointing jobs over the years and purchased a mortar gun for the last job…..how i wished I bought on years ago (and I like pointing with a trowel!)

I was planning on sticking with the dry mortar (ruling out gun) as I think I’ll make a mess of the slabs with wet mortar.. unless the gun is the silver bullet to doing in a tidy manner?!

Went with the dry mortar.. worked quite well as it looks “rustic” and meant we weren’t fannying round finishing the joint trying to get a perfect finish! Really happy with results but dear me my legs are in pieces! I’d have given up if my dad hadn’t helped out with the pointing.. £15 and a lot of elbow grease has transformed a fairly ropey looking patio.

Cheers for the posts and advice all.