How To Repair A Slate Patio

If your back muscles ache at the mere idea of building a slate patio, you're in for a pleasant surprise. A new panelized product from Vermont Natural Stoneworks offers a fast, foolproof way to build a beautiful slate patio or walkway - even if you've never done masonry piece of work.

Drag A screed across the 2x4 frame to level out the sand and create a 2-in.-deep recess for the patio panels.

Called the Instant Patio System, it consists of 1/4-in.-thick slate tiles permanently adhered to 2-in.-thick polystyrene-foam panels. The tiles are laid onto a sand bed and the spaces between them are filled with traffic-course sealant. No concrete to mix, mortar to spread or individual stones to set and grout. And because the panels are 2x2 ft. and 2x3 ft., you cover lots of footing in little time. Sound besides good to exist true? That's what we idea until we completed a 6x14-ft. entry patio in less than 1 day. This same projection would have taken at least two weekends at the very least if we had poured a slab, waited for it to cure and then set each stone in a mortar bed. We also escaped without a unmarried sore musculus or scraped knee.

What'south Included

Vermont slate comes in six globe tones: black, green, greyness, carmine, imperial and mottle (a dark-green-majestic shade). All six colors are used in the prefab patio panels, though yous can also order specific color combinations. Foursquare and rectangular slate tiles are adhered to the polystyrene with a flexible waterproof adhesive. The 3/8-in. spaces between each tile are filled with high-strength masonry grout. Durability is also role of the package. This system has been lab-tested to -40°F with no sign of failure or popped tiles. What'southward more, the 2-in.-thick Styrofoam base has an R-value of ten for solid protection against frost heaving - crucial for areas where freeze/thaw cycles are common. Its thickness also provides a cushioning upshot beneath the difficult slate. The prepackaged patio kit comes in five popular sizes: 8x10 ft. ($600), 10x12 ft. ($900), 10x15 ft. ($1,125), 12x15 ft. ($one,350) and 14x15 ft. ($ane,575). Or, y'all can order enough panels to build whatever size patio or walkway (about $7.50 per foursquare foot). Either way, panels are shipped directly to your abode along with all the necessary supplies, including rubber spacers, foam backer rod, tubes of sealant and installation instructions.

Ready each panel onto the sand bed. The 2x2- and 2x3-ft. panels each weigh only xx and 29 lbs., respectively.

Ground Prep

Your first pace is to build a perimeter edge to found the size and shape of the patio. We used pressure-treated 2x4s fix on edge, simply 4x4s, plastic edging or brick pavers volition piece of work too. Every bit you lot're laying out the edge, think that you can avoid cut any slate if you make the length and width of the patio roughly divisible by either ii or 3 (the panels are 2x2 ft. and 2x3 ft.). So remember to allow for three/eight-in.-wide spaces betwixt the panels, except where they abut the perimeter. To build a 2x4 border, start by screwing together the four boards to form a perimeter frame. Set the frame correct onto the ground and be certain the corners are square. While the frame need not be perfectly level, it should be shut. Check it with a level, and dig out whatever high spots. Pound a 1x3 pale into the ground at to the lowest degree every 6 ft. around the outside of the frame. Drive the stakes just below the top of the 2x4s. Temporarily screw or blast each pale to the frame. Next, use a shovel and dig out almost 1 in. of soil from inside the frame. Save the dirt for backfilling afterward. Spread most 3 in. of sand within the frame, then compact it past pounding the ground with a hand tamper, which is basically a flat metal plate attached to the bottom of a long handle (you tin rent i for near $8 per day). Compacting the sand helps foreclose the patio panels from sinking. So scrape the sand level using a couple of direct boards screwed together - known as a screed. To make one, cut a 2x4 at least 6 in. longer than the width of the patio frame. So cut a 2x6 to fit within the frame. Screw the 2x6 to the 2x4 with the top edges flush. That will create a ii-in. overhang at the bottom where the wider 2x6 extends past the 2x4. Set the screed onto the frame with the 2x6 extending down into the sand. Then drag the screed across the frame with a helper. The 2x6 will screed off backlog sand and create the uniform, ii-in.-deep recess needed to accommodate the patio panels. If you encounter any depression spots while screeding, fill them in with sand and screed the area again.

An alternative to edifice a border: Dig out the patio area virtually five in. deep and toss in 3 in. of sand. Compact the sand, screed it off, then gear up the patio panels. The ground and grass around the recess volition contain the panels. This borderless technique requires more than excavation, but it creates a smoother transition considering the patio is affluent with the grass. It's also easier to mow effectually a flush patio.

CUT THROUGH the slate and its foam base using a circular saw fitted with a silicon-carbide annoying blade.

Setting the Slate

Once the background is complete, start setting the panels (photo ane). Use the rubber spacers provided to maintain a consequent iii/viii-in. space between panels. If a console must be trimmed, you can cut it to size using a circular saw fitted with a silicon-carbide annoying blade. Slowly advance the saw across the panel, cut through both the slate and polystyrene (photo 2). Subsequently setting all the panels, pull out the spacers and use a putty pocketknife to push 1/2-in.-dia. foam capitalist rod betwixt the panels (photo three). The rod should be ane/4 in. downwards from the surface of the slate. Then employ a caulk gun to make full the joints with the traffic-grade sealant (photo 4). The sealant is self-leveling, and so there's no need to smooth it out. Let the sealant cure overnight. Terminate off by removing the 1x3 stakes and backfill around the frame with soil and bark mulch. And so relish your new patio as you impress your friends with all the "backbreaking" work y'all put into information technology.

Where To Discover It:

Vermont Natural Stoneworks

Depot St., Box 275, Dept. TH698, Fair Haven, VT 05743

888/786-6390

Source: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/patios/21014927/build-a-slate-patio

Posted by: rascoswittleir78.blogspot.com

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