Patio slab pointing.

[steve_b_wales]

What sand do I use for pointing the slabs? I used sharp sand for the mix when laying them, but it's too gritty for pointing.

[Spr1985]

Pretty sure it’s builders sand, the very fine orange stuff, mixed four to one with cement.

[JKD]

8 minutes ago, Spr1985 said:

Pretty sure it’s builders sand, the very fine orange stuff, mixed four to one with cement.

This ☝️

You could also use the brush in product of a suitable colour, if the joints are wide and deep enough.

[7daysinaweek]

I laid our patio nearly 25 years ago and used a grey riven finish cottage garden type flag. I used grit sand cement mixture for the pointing, 1 part cement , two of the sand and I can says that I have never had to repoint it since. It is still as hard as iron. I suppose it depends also on asthetic finish you want, ours being rustic cottage garden type so did not need to be super smooth. A good deep point and put in with a thin pointing tool if I recall.

Mother in law had her patio repointed this year and I was impressed with the look of the stuff they used, jet black it was, the texture and look is what I would say is simlar to a fine tarmac type resin. They said the handy man who done it scooped it from a huge premixed bucket and was brushed after the old crud was raked out. I suppose it is only time that will tell how well it endures. One thing for sure that is that it would have been a dam sight more expensive than your avererage cement sand mix.

[steve_b_wales]

Thanks for the replies. I'll check out the builders sand on Monday.

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, for me it depends on width and depth of joints sometimes i just brush in a dry mix then use a fine water spray and finish off with a pointing trowel but i take the point off with a file and round off, that's a quick way or make a mix like laying bricks and point in the joint, make sure you clean off any excess mix, let it dry and sweep off 

[Spr1985]

2 hours ago, JKD said:

This ☝️

You could also use the brush in product of a suitable colour, if the joints are wide and deep enough.

Nooooo, that stuff is rubbish, fails after 6months to a year. I did a bit of work for a mates landscaping company and he was sold on it by the sales man and we all loved using it but he then started getting call backs to rectify its failure, cost him a lot of time and money sorting it out and safe to say he stopped using it. Think it was called easy joint 

[humperdingle]

7 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

Nooooo, that stuff is rubbish, fails after 6months to a year. I did a bit of work for a mates landscaping company and he was sold on it by the sales man and we all loved using it but he then started getting call backs to rectify its failure, cost him a lot of time and money sorting it out and safe to say he stopped using it. Think it was called easy joint 

That stuff was used on our garden slabs three years ago - looked nice for the first while but as mentioned, starts to loosen and dislodge. We’ve had it replaced in parts a couple of times.

It’s easy enough to do but I’d rather not have to!

[JKD]

7 hours ago, Spr1985 said:

Nooooo, that stuff is rubbish, fails after 6months to a year. I did a bit of work for a mates landscaping company and he was sold on it by the sales man and we all loved using it but he then started getting call backs to rectify its failure, cost him a lot of time and money sorting it out and safe to say he stopped using it. Think it was called easy joint 

I've not experienced that issue TBH, although I haven't used it that much. The joints do need to be a minimum size as per instructions. I can tell you that it definitely doesn't suit using in chamfered edged paving, because of the conical shape of the joints 🙄

[sportsbob]

I have recently used Kiln dried sand from Wickes to good effect, it is very fine and mixes well with the cement. I also used it in a cement gun for precise application.

[steve_b_wales]

27 minutes ago, sportsbob said:

I have recently used Kiln dried sand from Wickes to good effect, it is very fine and mixes well with the cement. I also used it in a cement gun for precise application.

[marsh man]

On 16/11/2023 at 15:27, sportsbob said:

I have recently used Kiln dried sand from Wickes to good effect, it is very fine and mixes well with the cement. I also used it in a cement gun for precise application.

Very similar to the sand we used , ours was drift sand off the beach , mix it up dry to a 1 cement and two of sand and sweep it in the joints as a dry mix , easy enough to top it up after a while if it shrink .there is always a big pile of the stuff ( free ) at various places in the town in case anyone want to fill sand bags up if there is flood warning .