Paving and Setts - Part 2

At last! My paving stone has arrived, after getting stuck in a container at a dock somewhere in India I think it was.  I've taken delivery of the first 17 sq m, and have been having fun laying them down between the setts which were set in cement weeks ago. Happily,

all my careful measuring has paid off and they all seem to be looking good, with no large gaps anywhere. Here's the first lot (right) of 19 slabs, laid in about two and a half hours.  I'm glad that I chose to bed them on sand; having helped lay the 18 sq m of pretty similar stone in the kitchen in 2011, and then done another 12 sq m in the rebuilt extension all by myself, I knew that getting the level was surprisingly difficult, and so I wanted to retain the option of lifting and re-laying a slab later on.  There are a couple of those set in mortar that I would love to be able to do again!  In fact, when laying large slabs (60cm square, or larger) on mortar, due to the suction it is quite difficult to lift the slab even when you have only just laid it, never mind when it's all set.

The annoying thing about the delay was that I didn't trust my ability to measure accurately enough.  Hence I wanted to get the first half or so of the paving laid beside the house before I turned the corner (literally) to do the back.  Now that the first lot is done almost to the back, I will be able to prove the positioning of the end of the setts; then I can work from that edge and lay the remaining setts accurately beside the half-finished wall. 

That will then allow me to work across the back of the house on what will be our patio; in fact that part is almost a sunken garden due to the high walls, but it still catches the summer sun almost all day even though it's on the north side of the house.  Here's another view (left) from the other direction; the "patio" is at the end and then on the right out of sight behind the brick extension.


I'd just done those first pavers and was thinking of a cup of tea when a light shower started which decided the issue! So I took these pictures and decided to update the blog instead.