# Forum Home Renovation Paving  Laying granite pavers.....

## PlatypusGardens

Am quoing a job to lay 400x400x30mm granite pavers.
They want them gapped and grouted, which isn't a problem. 
Never used granite before however.
Is there anything I should be wary of when it comes to cutting etc?  
Cheers    :Smilie:

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## johnc

> Am quoing a job to lay 400x400x30mm granite pavers.
> They want them gapped and grouted, which isn't a problem. 
> Never used granite before however.
> Is there anything I should be wary of when it comes to cutting etc?  
> Cheers

  Diamonds are not just a girls best friend, so cut with a diamond blade, granite will stain so don't slop on anything that will cause a problem like oils etc. Otherwise should be no issues.

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## PlatypusGardens

Oh yes I always use wet cut diamond blade.  :Smilie:  
Ok will see if I get the job (120sqm)
They had some bloke who was gonna do it and he did a runner (apparently he was freaking out as they were granite pavers) 
Good news is all the excavation work is done and the crusher dust is in.
Bad news is they've put plastic under the crusher dust.... 
Have to be careful when wetting and compacting.   :Frown:

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## r3nov8or

What finish is the granite, e.g. Flamed, hammered, polished ...

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## johnc

I assume you are only compacting the base not the pavers, if you tried to compact the paver I think they'd break.

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## PlatypusGardens

> What finish is the granite, e.g. Flamed, hammered, polished ...

  
Not sure.....hammered maybe?      

> *I assume you are only compacting the base not the pavers, if you tried to compact the paver I think they'd break.*

  correct.    :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

> Not sure.....hammered maybe?

   Hammered is pretty rough. If flamed, it's still rough, but looks sort of melted rather than, well, hammered. In my brief experience the flaming process of granite leaves 'lines' across the stone that are invisible unless you catch them in the right light. They look like the path of a blow torch, about 20mm wide across the whole surface. If you lay them with all 'lines' in the same direction you may never notice they are there. But if one paver is turned 90degrees in the right light it will stand out amongst the others, reflecting differently and a slightly different colour. It's less obvious than, but sort of like, if you had a lot of band-sawn timber and someone turned one piece the other way, you could tell which piece, in the right light. It's not a big deal, just something I've seen, which happens to be in a spot where I now see it often, now I know it's there.  
Granite is natural and differences should be expected, but it does catch my eye, and the flaming process isn't exactly naturally occurring in cut stone.. 
(I've just written a lot about something that may not even concern you  :Smilie:  )

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## Pulse

http://www.pavingexpert.com/layflag3.htm#bornb 
I've found this site great. 
Cheers Pulse   
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## r3nov8or

One other thing re granite pavers is that, say, 30mm thick could be anywhere from 28 to 32. Just my experience.

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## PlatypusGardens

Thanks guys. 
I'm starting the job on Friday, screeding and wacking the crusherdust, then start laying Monday.
Will keep you updated and take some pics.   
Anything I should be worried about when it comes to grouting the pavers?
Slop it in, sponge it off as per usual?    :Smilie:

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## r3nov8or

> Thanks guys. 
> I'm starting the job on Friday, screeding and wacking the crusherdust, then start laying Monday.
> Will keep you updated and take some pics.   
> Anything I should be worried about when it comes to grouting the pavers?
> Slop it in, sponge it off as per usual?

  Maybe a bit more sponging if they are hammered or flamed, given the texture is quite rough. More sponging than smooth pavers anyway.

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## PlatypusGardens

> One other thing re granite pavers is that, say, 30mm thick could be anywhere from 28 to 32. Just my experience.

  
Laid some today, and, yes, there's definitely a big variation in thickness.    :Smilie:

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## PlatypusGardens

> One other thing re granite pavers is that, say, 30mm thick could be anywhere from 28 to 32. Just my experience.

  
Or almost 25 to 32  :Shock:      
I didn't even go looking for these, they were next to eachother in the pack     :No:

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## David.Elliott

In my very small tiling efforts a long time ago I had to do some slate.  The method that was shared with me was to sort them into thickness. Then lay them as this minimised the up/down... 
Might be worth a shot...

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## PlatypusGardens

> In my very small tiling efforts a long time ago I had to do some slate.  The method that was shared with me was to sort them into thickness. Then lay them as this minimised the up/down... 
> Might be worth a shot...

  
They're all laid now and I'm gonna go over them tomorrow and pull out a few odd ones that are sticking out too much.
The majority aren't that bad though. 
Sorting through them like mentioned would be very time consuming, and a lot of double/triple handling heavy work.
When we're talking over 500 pavers, moving them once is enough.... 
especially in 35 degree heat with 2000% humidity and no breeze in the full sun.   :Wink:

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## PlatypusGardens

I put this on the pavers, in the sun, last week......

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## r3nov8or

> I put this on the pavers, in the sun, last week......

  and that is Blizzard, the lightest colour available at the moment. Imagine if it was a dark stone!

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