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We are laying a patio out of rough edge granite setts (or cobblestones). One supplier, London Stone, is quite expensive and has also recommended their pre-sealing service where they seal all faces of the granite sett with Dry Treat Stain Proof so that they are delivered ready sealed. Their marketing blurb says: "Sealing stone prior to installation will help to protect against efflorescence (a white ‘bloom’ which appears on the surface of the stone after installation as a result of salts from the bedding layer travelling through the stone to the surface). Sealing prior to installation will not completely eradicate the possibility of efflorescence occurring, however it will reduce the risk significantly in comparison to unsealed stone." Another supplier, has said that they don't pre-seal and that sealing all faces is also not required. Instead, they recommend installing the setts and then sealing just the exposed face with a product called "Wet and Forget". This is significantly cheaper than Dry Treat Stain Proof, and the supplier is also quite a bit cheaper. What have people on the forum who have laid granite outdoors done about sealing? Do you do it before or after installation? And how do you stop weed growth? Is it simply a case of laying a geotextile membrane between the hardcore and the sand and cement bed for the granite?

Any Advice? Any Tips welcome. I'm about to embark on a cellar conversation. The basement is dug into the hillside, and is a 19th century listed building. So it's old. The cellar has an external door and 2 small windows to a small courtyard - so it's not entirely submerged. (Pictures attached). It does also get a nice amount of airflow. My plan is to build a stud wall, insulate and line the space will drywall, covering up some of the shoddy surfaces. I hope to keep the left brick wall for some character. The biggest concern is the far left corner (seen in pictures). At some point, it's clearly been very damp, but today and for the last few months, it seems quite dry. I'm no pro when it comes to fixing up spaces like this, so any advice is welcome. My worry is that by tanking this corner and then building a stud wall in front, it might cut off the airflow to that area and subsequently causes the damp to return. Would this be the case? Should I somehow integrate a vent for airflow to continue, or should I point all the damaged brick work and then stud wall? It's a hefty job, but I really want to turn the space around. If anyone has any advice, I'd really appreciate it. Thank you! Freddie.

If anyone interested I have a 15% off code for airtightness tapes with Passive house systems. The code is 15%aocx, not sure how long this code lasts but I have only just ordered and it worked for me. I have the rep's contact details so if it does not work let me know and I will contact him.

To disguise our borehole, which is a raised concrete section 600 x 450 inspection chamber, we've built a circular stone wall around it, about 1500mm in diameter (about the smallest diameter we could manage). This is built on a hefty concrete footing, that seals to the pre-cast concrete inspection chamber section. I've added another inspection chamber section, so the borehole casing, inside the stone ring is now about 30mm above it and I have capped it with a 900 x 600 sandstone. The stone ring is around 400mm high, and we're now left with an annular space around the borehole head chamber and are thinking of turning it into a water feature. There's no risk of contaminating the borehole, as the borehole itself has a sealed cap, plus there's a 100mm drain leading from the base of the head chamber to a soakaway. All the electrics in the head chamber are IP66 sealed. What I'm looking at is the best way to seal both the outside of the precast chamber sections, the concrete base and the inside face of the stone wall. My initial thoughts are to parge coat the inside of the masonry to get it smooth and fill any bigger voids in the mortar, add a strong mortar radius around the base of both the inner face of the outer wall and the base, and between the outer face of the chamber section and the base. Once I have the surfaces fairly smooth, I was then thinking of using something like G4 PU sealant to seal the whole of the inside. I'll build in an overflow pipe and also a fill pipe, and as there's power there we may well add a pump and some form of gentle water feature later. The "pond" will be planted, with raised platforms for things like water lilies, maybe some irises, but won't have fish in it. Does the above sound sensible? I'll try and take a photo tomorrow, to show how it looks at the moment.