Laying of garden slabs.. Does it all have to go down in one go?!

Gaughan.david

Hi everyone! 

I'm all set to lay some huge sandstone slabs to make a patio- 5 rows of 5, offset by half a slab per row to make a zigzag edge. 

I've cut out the area of grass, put in 5cm of type 1 and compacted to flat. The plan is to lay on a wet mortar bed of between 6cm and 2cm in order to create a gradient. 

The thing is, I'm all on my own. For convenience, I'd really like to be able to do one row per evening. 

do you think this is likely to cause a structural problem in the cement bed? Laying one row, letting it dry, then laying the next right next to it the next day? Will the wet mortar mix set properly to the already dry concrete next to it?! 

Thanks! 

Lyn

That’s ok, when you start again, just wet the already set mortar.
The builders took about three days to lay ours, maybe more, it’s all fine. 

nickten

You could go with a dry mix of sand and cement, much easier to get a level on your own this way.

Fairygirl

Although you can do them on a dry mix, I think I'd still opt for a bit of the wet stuff if they're big pieces. More stable, especially if you're on clay and it dries out over summer. Dry mix inbetween is fine though 

Reluctant_Gardener

Lay a tarpaulin over the whole area.