⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ WE SELL MELBOURNE’S BEST QUALITY PAVERS AT PRICES YOU CAN AFFORD ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
12 Princes Highway Doveton, vic 3177
Phone: (03) 9706 9767
mon – fri: 7:30 am – 5:00 pm * sat: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ WE SELL MELBOURNE’S BEST QUALITY PAVERS AT PRICES YOU CAN AFFORD ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
12 Princes Highway Doveton, vic 3177
Phone: (03) 9706 9767
mon – fri: 7:30 am – 5:00 pm * sat: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Natural Form – Generally around 20mm – 40mm in thickness making it a MUST to be laid into a wet mix slurry outside your home, generally more suited to an expert paving tradesman.
Calibrated (generally with a sawn back) – Generally this material has a variance in thickness of only 5mm. This makes it VERY easy to install and very suitable to installation both inside your home or outside paving around swimming pools and on your back patio.
Adhesive Bed- Best suited to calibrated crazy paving such as our Ivory travertine crazy paving or similar products to be installed directly onto a existing concrete slab. Clean the laying surface (remove debris, dust oil etc), apply the adhesive to the floor using a notch trowel 10-15mm thick, and back butter the base of the stone elements as well to ensure a positive adhesion takes place.
Dry lay the stone pcs and pre-cut, thus making it easy to install in the wet adhesive mix. The stone pieces are then compacted evenly on the adhesive with a rubber mallet to ensure consistent contact with the glue. Consistent open joints should be allowed for at 7-10mm. Cutting Ideally it is recommended that cutting be done using a bench saw with a wet diamond blade. The stone should be washed immediately after it is cut to avoid cutting paste drying and staining the surface of the product.
Crystalline silica (or silica dust) is a common mineral found in soil, sand, and some types of stone. It is also used in the construction of materials such as bricks, tiles, concrete, and artificial stone. Silica exposure can cause a range of health issues, so protective equipment should be worn whilst using power tools to cut, grind and drill such products. Appropriate safety guidelines relating to silica exposure should be adhered to on your construction site. Grouting Compound It is recommended to use a high-grade pre-bagged grouting compound that is suitable for the application. Grouting Methods 1. Dampen grout joints and stone with a sponge 2. Place grout into joints, ensuring no voids, to the full depth of the paving stones. Remove any excess grout with a rubber grouting trowel on its edge. Then sponge clean the paving surface with minimal water in the thick sponge, ensuring all excess grout has been removed. We recommend that after an area is laid it should not be loaded for a period to enable the adhesive to achieve peak strength. Pedestrian traffic around 2 days, Vehicle Traffic: 2-3 weeks.
• Sand and Cement- No existing slab then simply excavate around 120mm of soil, level out and then fill in up to 100mm with roadbase and heavily compact.
• You will need the following materials to be added to your cement mixer for EVERY mix…
• 12 shovels of white pre washed sand
• 1 bag of white cement
• 10L of water mixed with 100ml of Efflock to reduce any efflorescence
• 50ml of Bycol to keep the mix workable.
Step 1: Lay Dry Sections – The most common practice for DIY’s is to dry lay sections, this enable to step back and have a look at what you have laid and if you are not happy you can reposition the pieces or cut with your small angle grinder to get closer grout lines.
Step 2: Mixing Adhesive – Once you are happy with your layout start your sand & cement mixture preparation being 4 shovels white brick sand, 1 shovel of GP cement, 1 cup of bondcrete, 1 cap of plasticiser. Add water to the mix whilst turning it over with a shovel to get a consistency of where you can pick it up with your hand and it won’t run through your fingers. Remove small section of your pattern with your shovel spread down a layer of sand & cement and add about 30mm in depth. Prior to positioning into the sand & cement, paint the back of the tile with a mixture of cement & water. Tap with your rubber mallet until the excess sand & cement is visible on the sides.
Step 3: Adjust & Clean Installation – Give it a light tap with your mallet. Use your level to get your floor level or any required fall that you may need. Be aware that when you tap some sand & cement might protrude out the sides and up through the grout line – give the sand & cement protruding through the grout lines a wash with your sponge at least 10mm down.
Step 3: (cont.) – The sand & cement protruding though the sides can be push down with your trowel and this can be used as part of the next area where sand & cement is added. At the end of the day when you stop tiling, make sure the sand & cement is cut away as this will be difficult to remove the next day. Continue the process until you have completed your area.
Step 4: Grouting – Before beginning any grouting, it is recommended to wear rubber gloves. Mix up your required grout to a toothpaste consistency, meaning you can pick it up with your hand and it won’t ooze through your fingers when you hold it in the palm of your hands. Use your rubber grout float slightly angled upward to use the point of the float to push the grout into your grout lines. Give it a light scrape, and flip the float onto its edge at an angle of more than 45 degrees and pull towards you angling across the grout lines. Doing it this way avoids pulling any of the grout out of the lines.
Note: With crazy paving, there can be two methods of grouting. Either a pre bag grout or grouting with a sand & cement method. A sand and cement mixture for grouting will consists of 5 shovels brick sand and 1 cement. If wanting to colour the grout, an oxide can be used. Measure into a measuring cup so each mix is the same.
Step 5: Washing – When grouting, most trades use a friendly system called “Wash Boy Grout Bucket”, which is available from Bunnings. This should be done throughout the grouting process to ensure no grout residue is left to harden on the surface on the tiles.
Unlike other paving alternatives which use a straight and geometrical pattern and format, crazy paving means that the installation will be exactly how it sounds: crazy and unformatted.
Additionally, there is also the possibility that the surface will be different depending on the type of product used. As such, whether you’re installing crazy paving for a patio, pool area, or courtyard, it’s very important to set reference points while installing crazy paving so that you can clearly track the starting level and the finished level and ensure that everything is (more or less) consistent.
So how do we do this?
First, we install string lines in a grid pattern to establish a set of reference points. Since crazy pavers can vary in surface structure and thickness, the stringlines help us gauge how much mortar to use and reduce our room for errors when laying the pavers.
Once you have the gridlines established, spread the mortar onto the surface and ensure that the pavers sit about 1/2mm under the stringline. If they protrude, tap the pavers to level the surface and achieve the desired level and gradient.
After you’ve installed the crazy pavers and you’re happy with the levelling, it’s time to add the grout. At RBG Landscapes, we grout crazy pavers using a wide joint sand-based grout supplied by Ardex or Mapei.
The produce we recommend is the Ardex WJ50, for a variety of reasons- Firstly, it’s available in a variety of colours which means you can pick one that will match your pavers. Secondly, it’s sand based with a pre-mixed back and a maximum joint width of 50mm. This combination guarantees that the grout won’t shrink or crack: two important factors to consider when choosing grout for crazy paving.
Now, onto making the grout and its application.
Mix a 20kg bag of grout with 2L of Ardex grout booster. To achieve the desired consistency, we recommend mixing the grout using an electric drill with a paddle. Once you have the mix, apply the grout into the joints using a squidge tool. Ensure that all the joints are sufficiently full and levelled with the surface of the pavers.
Scrape away any excess and wipe the grout from the stone’s surface using a tiling sponge so that there is no residue grout left. The trick here is to always use clean water so that the stones and joints remain clean. Repeat this process until all the joints are filled with grout and you’re satisfied with the result.
Need a hand?
Call: 0397069767
Our friendly Stone Paver Experts are here to help you get the best paving solution for your project!
We’re available: Mon – Fri 7.30am – 5pm & Sat 9am – 4pm.
After hours please contact us here.
