Holly's House (Part 11)

The ample sized patio in the backyard consist of large rectangular slate laid in a sand/dirt base. The large un-grouted joints have allowed water to seep under the slate and erode the sand and dirt fill, leaving the slate uneven. Slate laid in a sand/dirt base will shift and settle over time and since the joints are opened and not grouted there is nothing to stop the erosion under the slate.
On this project we will re-lay the slate in a dry-pack cement mix and damp-grout the joints. This will make the patio come to form. Maybe when we re-lay the slate the Boss will let us lay it in an Old English herring bone pattern or something.

The first project for the slate patio was to power wash the slate to see it’s true color. There are cleaning solutions for slate, and we will do that after it has been re-laid and grouted. But for now we will just power wash it without a solution and see what we have. When we power wash the slate we will use a nozzle setting of 1,500 to1,600 PSI. Higher PSI can cause slate to shale off some of its top layers.
Take a look at the color difference after the power wash.

View From Second Floor

Can You See Where the Pressure Washer Stops?


Big Difference!

Almost Finished

There will be more pictures of the landscape after April 15, that's when the plants and flowers are scheduled to arrive.

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