Garden path

[stitch6]

We called some tradesmen to work on the side of our house as we had steps leading from the front of the house down to the back garden. We wanted the steps taken out and concreting everything so that it's just a straight, gentle incline going down.

They used around 32 bags of Ballast (25kg) and 12 bags of multi purpose cement (25kg) but from what I have read, it seems like they used a lot of cement in the ratio. Does this sound right? They did use rebar/concrete reinforcing mesh underneath to provide extra support.

 

[Munroast]

numbers don't make any sense to me, its like 2.7/1. and all that weighs in at not much more than a tonne, 1100kg concrete does not go that far. 9 yards long 2 foot wide and 4" thick.

 

[stitch6]

Yes the ratio just doesn't sound right to me as I know that it's usually supposed to be around 1:5 or 1:6. The length of the path is around 8m and the width was just around 1.4m if I remember correctly.

 

[stitch6]

I have attached a photo of how it looked when it was around half complete. There is the rebar and gravel underneath.

 

[Odds]

That looks like a perfect slide in winter when ice gets to work on it. And a moss trap, too.

 

[stitch6]

We were concerned about it being slippery in the winter but we minimised the incline as much as possible by having a longer path, I appreciate we will have to be careful. Would you be able to explain about the moss issues and what your opinion on the cement mixture is please?

That looks like a perfect slide in winter when ice gets to work on it. And a moss trap, too.

 

[Odds]

We were concerned about it being slippery in the winter but we minimised the incline as much as possible by having a longer path, I appreciate we will have to be careful. Would you be able to explain about the moss issues and what your opinion on the cement mixture is please?

Well, moss likes damp conditions where little sunlight reaches beyond the shade so if your path doesn't receive much sunshine it'll soon find a crack to grow in. As for mixing cement, i'm in the 3:1 group.

 

[stitch6]

I see what you mean, is there anything that the tradesmen could have done differently which would have prevented this? It's just so I know for any future work I may get done.