canalsiderenovation

Motorway barriers...... we have 90 metres of them as a retaining wall.

Yep, us too but maybe in time we will replace..... also like the idea they do the dark grey polymeric sand too.

As a fan of Nancy Birtwhistle I have used soda crystals with some eco friendly washing up liquid and it works a treat on porcelain.... presume it would do a good job on block paving too https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7hAF8Zo4I9/?igsh=YW51eDlxN205cDBo

I'd be interested to see what sealer options there are. Any particular suggestions on brands of sealer? We have free ranging chickens and we haven't yet trained them to not go on the block paving! They are only just learning to avoid the porcelain patio/terrace/pergola and that's been through the use of a very powerful water pistol 🔫

We have just had close to 300m2 laid just close to being finished after some batch colour issues (see my previous post). We have an incline too and lots of trees and ruled our gravel as this is what we had before and it was always wet and slushy and just not practical. We looked at imprinted concrete and resin but were worried about the longevity of it (a family member had concrete and it looks OK 10 years on but has a fair bit of cracking). My parents have tarmac and it has heavy indents from parking in the same place and when someone damaged it, the patching looks terrible. Block paving was a logical choice as if anything goes wrong at least it's easy to replace a brick or two. Once is finally finished I'll upload pics. We will be looking at some kind of sealer for it but once our finances are a bit improved so be good to hear of some suggestions.

Thank you, much appreciated.

@nod this seems reasonable I think given your estimation?

Huws Grey Whitchurch, Shropshire (the builder said he spends a lot of money with them)! They probably want to keep him happy.

When they are wet they look the same!

There is none of the same batch... the whole lot is coming up and the builders merchant is sorting out another order of them all from one batch and taking the others back. I understand they are compensating the builder.....

How does this sound? Garage 2.1x2 = 4.2 2.1x2= 4.2 6.7x2.1= 14.07 2.3x6.7= 15.41 6.7x2.1= 14.07 Total = 51.95m2 Base with mesh, secondary base, prime and thin top coat with 1.5mm silicone in white. £60 x 52 = £3120 Plus Vat

I'm pleased to report it's not oil and most of the marks have gone! It must just have been water or bricks taking longer to dry. I think we just got ourselves a bit worked up! So just the batch issues to resolve and a chipped edging brick and hopefully we are on the way to getting complete!

We messaged the builder and said having thought about it we aren't happy and he said isn't happy with it either and said he is going to sort it. We are both on the same page! In fairness, I think he would have come back on Tuesday, seen it again and not been happy but I'm glad we raised it! Thank you everyone. Yes, we were just trying to be helpful. We like the guy but he did reply and say no its not our job! Maybe, I'm probably now just obsessing and getting all stressed about it. Thanks everyone for your advice I really do appreciate it.

Maybe, I don't know they are in different places and even on some areas close to the front door which have been down a good couple of weeks. We have messaged the builder tonight, telling him not to lay anymore and we have said we are more than happy to lift the ones he laid that are the different shade. One idea we had is just as you come in the gates where the corner is (where the bricks are stacked) he could do a pattern line of some in the very light colour he used on the edging. Similar to this pattern on the bottom.... The pale bit would be a divide and the new darker batch could be laid from the gate to the patterned line but beyond the pattered line and abutting the old batch would absolutely need to match because the we can't have two different batch numbers directly next to one another it's just too noticeable. Thoughts?

So today we have swept thoroughly the block paving and the colour difference is so noticeable. We have had plenty of rain too and we have seen a new problem. We think some kind of oil has been spilt. Maybe from the builders using their whaker plate or some sort of equipment. It's not us as since the block paving started one car has been in the garage blocked and the other is stuck down the lane, infact no vehicles have been down the drive since the block paving started- the only equipment that needs oil or petrol is the builders whacker plate and still saw thing. It seems to be in quite a few places. I just don't know what to do - can anyone say if this is oil or what it looks like? I have checked my videos and it certainly wasn't visible from around a week ago which may be before it was whacker plated but it was visible on the photos from the last few days - I just thought it was wet.

We have thought about asking him to use the paler colour that was used as edging and at the front door to try and do some sort of pattern to break it up but I think it will just look disjointed as we have such a large area and there doesn't seem anywhere logical to do a break or any sort of pattern.

I believe he did mix the packs he had but then the issues came when he had to wait for the remaining packs from the supplier which came later and were a different batch. I may be wrong though.....

Even if they weren't the same batch and he had mixed them I don't think they would be that noticeable but at the moment it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Yes that's my gut is to get up the stuff he laid on Friday which is noticeably different... and hope he can get the same batch. I'll even lift the stuff! It's such a large area and it will hit you as soon as you drive through the gates....

Here's a better video. 20240525_103530.mp4

Yes this was yesterday. He'd already lifted the same patch he had done before as the colour didn't match and then redid it again but this one seems even worse.....

It wouldn't be all it would just be the part closer to the gate - as long as he could get the batch to match the existing.....

Were yours all from the same batch though? I'm worried if the darker ones fade so will the others so they will never match!

Hoping to train chickens to avoid them sh!tting on block paving....

We have a hiccup with the block paving. For some reasons or other the builder has had issues with getting the same bricks from the initial batch they used (not sure if its builder or supplier issue). As you can see this has resulted in a marked shading difference (the darker is the third lot that the supplier has attempted to match) and the builder laid these on Friday. We just aren't happy with the shading difference. The builder says he thinks these will fade but I'm not convinced and surely any fading will happen to both so they will always be different shades.... (He hasn't put the sand into the darker new bit yet) The options are either for the builder to ring around various suppliers and try and find the batch that was initially used, another suggestion he had was to split it and try and do some sort of pattern or something different to split it up (I'm not sure what as it's such a large area of block paving) or to fit it all and if it doesn't fade or look right he will come back later and sort (my least preferred option as just want it all done and sorted and I do trust the builder would do the right thing). Any suggestions please? If he splits it with some sort of pattern what would you do? Or would you just insist he gets the right batch...