Paving Recommendations

GalwayUsr

Hi, 
I am looking to get some recommendations on paving for a patio. We are just nearing completion on a kitchen/living room extension and need to decide on what type of paving/slabs to go with. Obviously budget is a key factor, we had been hoping to go with Granite initially, but obviously it is very expensive. At the end of the day I want to make sure I do it right, that it will stand the test of time and that it will be low maintenance. Our old patio was a nightmare, you could power hose it forever and it never came up right. Sandstone seems to be popular, does anybody know what it is like maintenance wise. I am based in Galway.
Many thanks,.

Technophobe

Irish weather can be hard on sandstone. It is nice too but Irish limestone is as nice imo and weathers better in Irish climate apparently....

goz83

Sandstone is great if you seal it properly. I got lucky and picked up reclaimed sandstone earlier this year for my yard after a kitchen/dining extension. When you have sandstone, they should be cleaned and then sealed with a good sealer. Ideally, this should be done once per year. It's as simple as filling a bucket with sealer and you can even use a sweeping bush to apply it.

I haven't sealed mine yet, because there is still work going on and I also need to acid clean them, but here is my mixed sandstone of ~20SQM. It looks better since the pond and shed got rendered, but I don't have a more recent pic of the slabs.



I got these for only €15 per metre with a couple of metres thrown in for free.

byrne_baby_byrn

I was thinking of doing a patio too and popped into Roadstone. They have concrete-based paving that comes in a limestone and sandstone effect. We didn’t realise it wasn’t natural stone until the guy told us. So no sealing or anything needed but we’ll probably do it anyway. It’s called Urbana and it’s 23 quid per squared metre. I think Roadstone have a lot of their brochures online.

Millem

We are getting ours done next week. Neighbour has indian sandstone and green grows on it!

Markcheese

Seen quite a few sandstone patios that "hold" water and then go green..! Are they always cemented in and grouted? Because that does hold rain unless it's on a hell of a slope.
Last time I laid a patio it was brick, laid on pea gravel, and it dries as soon as the rain stops...

goz83

Millem wrote: »

We are getting ours done next week. Neighbour has indian sandstone and green grows on it!

If it’s not done properly, like anything else, it won’t perform.

Markcheese wrote: »

Seen quite a few sandstone patios that "hold" water and then go green..! Are they always cemented in and grouted? Because that does hold rain unless it's on a hell of a slope.
Last time I laid a patio it was brick, laid on pea gravel, and it dries as soon as the rain stops...

Best not to grout sandstone in. For low maintenance, lay a ground cover to prevent weed growing through. Then lay the core and gravel. Leave a 1-2mm gap between slabs and don’t fill with anything. Seal them and enjoy. When it rains, it won’t hold water if done this way.

Millem

We have kilsarin cambridge.

EoC

What about granite. Is it expensive? I have a huge area to fill.
Also is there such a thing as a patio designer that you can pay to come up with some ideas....

SarahLil

Hi Sorry for dragging up an oldish thread, Millem are you happy with Kilsaran ? I am thinking of going with Old Priory from Kilsaran

Did you lay the patio yourself or get professionals, if anyone has any recommendations could you PM me please

Millem

SarahLil wrote: »

Hi Sorry for dragging up an oldish thread, Millem are you happy with Kilsaran ? I am thinking of going with Old Priory from Kilsaran

Did you lay the patio yourself or get professionals, if anyone has any recommendations could you PM me please

Yes we love it! Makes the garden look soooo much bigger! My husband lay a patio himself with it last year but after we got our extension we got a professional to pave alot more and build a low wall with capping stones for a flower bed! A few landscapers wanted to do a connemara wall which is a kilsarin product but we decided against it as apparently it is glued together....we just went for normal concrete blocks.

We have cambridge ivory in 3 sizes. We reused all our orginal patio.
We also got drainage sorted and garden levelled as it was a disgrace!

Kilsarin will give you a list of people they recommend if you want a professional and you can claim back the vat from hri.

Our materials cost about €1700 from kilsarin directly.

Are you based in Dublin?

donegal.

re the photo in the 3rd post:
Is there any reason to have a step down to the patio?

I was thinking of changing the shape of my patio and was going to raise it to match the kitchen floor at the same time.

SarahLil

Millem wrote: »

Yes we love it! Makes the garden look soooo much bigger! My husband lay a patio himself with it last year but after we got our extension we got a professional to pave alot more and build a low wall with capping stones for a flower bed! A few landscapers wanted to do a connemara wall which is a kilsarin product but we decided against it as apparently it is glued together....we just went for normal concrete blocks.

We have cambridge ivory in 3 sizes. We reused all our orginal patio.
We also got drainage sorted and garden levelled as it was a disgrace!

Kilsarin will give you a list of people they recommend if you want a professional and you can claim back the vat from hri.

Our materials cost about €1700 from kilsarin directly.

Are you based in Dublin?

Thanks Millem for the feedback yes I am based in Dublin, I have had a landscaper out with me, I was originally thinking sandstone with a low wall in Connemara stone for bedding or use as seating in the summer with some cushions but he recommended Old Priory from Kilsaran as the sandstone is not suitable for our Irish Climate

I am also looking at putting my walls higher by one brick and nap rendering the garden walls, it is quite pricey for all of the above plus they are taking a tree down for me but the work is guaranteed for 10 years and I have went to see some of the their other work and the customers were very happy.

Millem

SarahLil wrote: »

Thanks Millem for the feedback yes I am based in Dublin, I have had a landscaper out with me, I was originally thinking sandstone with a low wall in Connemara stone for bedding or use as seating in the summer with some cushions but he recommended Old Priory from Kilsaran as the sandstone is not suitable for our Irish Climate

I am also looking at putting my walls higher by one brick and nap rendering the garden walls, it is quite pricey for all of the above plus they are taking a tree down for me but the work is guaranteed for 10 years and I have went to see some of the their other work and the customers were very happy.

That’s great!
Our raised flower bed is 2 concrete blocks high and a capping stone. It is great for sitting on too.
The price was a real eye opener! It cost more than our kitchen and my husband did alot of the prep work!

SarahLil

Millem wrote: »

That’s great!
Our raised flower bed is 2 concrete blocks high and a capping stone. It is great for sitting on too.
The price was a real eye opener! It cost more than our kitchen and my husband did alot of the prep work!

That makes me feel better about the price Millem, I could go with the walls at a later date but I would prefer to get it all done in one go and I a mid terrace house so some of it will have to come through the house and then get the decorators into freshen up the place

I heard the good weather is due back soon Millem enjoy your garden thanks so much for coming back to me

Millem

SarahLil wrote: »

That makes me feel better about the price Millem, I could go with the walls at a later date but I would prefer to get it all done in one go and I a mid terrace house so some of it will have to come through the house and then get the decorators into freshen up the place

I heard the good weather is due back soon Millem enjoy your garden thanks so much for coming back to me

Don’t get me started on the price!! For labour we paid (cash) more than what we paid my maternity consultant !
What a joke 3 days work!!
Painter also wanted something similar:(

We didn’t get back wall rendered....it’s something that we may do down the line! That and raised flower bed walls are pointed.

I am waiting till the next recession to get another extension!!!

GalwayUsr

Hi, 
We ended up going with the silver granite slabs in the end. Its about 2 weeks now since they were put down and I see a lot of rust like marks on them here and there. I haven't had time to put furniture or anything on them yet so its not rust from furniture. Have any of you encountered this before ?
Just seems odd, wasn't expecting to see rust marks on it, given what we paid to put it down between materials and labour.
thanks