DIY Related: Victorian quarry tile path - confused dot com?

[Stu78]

Hello everyone, I'm newly joined but have searched this forum many times before and always found it helpful and (hopefully) friendly!
I'm hoping for a bit of advice about my front path, I should say up front that i'm not a pro tiler just a DIYer but I'm worried I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this job...
I live in a normal victorian terrace in South London, and originally there were the 6" square (1"thick) black and red quarry tiles on the path out the front in a diagonal diamond pattern. There was no sub base to speak of, and quite a few were cracked, wobbly, big weeds growing through etc. I pulled the lot up (they didn't offer much resistance) and cleaned them up ready to re-lay. I also sourced a few replacements having measured up and worked out exactly how many wholes and halfs of each colour I needed.
Next, I dug out the path and laid a concrete slab (good n thick as there was no way I ever wanted to do it again...). Next up after the slab had gone off (this was back in the summer) I laid two lines of paving bricks, one on each side of the path, being careful to keep them spaced correctly and with a slight fall from the house to the pavement.
And thats as far as I've got...
I guess before I carry on I wanted to check whether the above sounds OK, or if I've it up! If I'm good to carry on, what should I be laying them on? I was going to just use use a 3 to1 mix, and I've allowed for a 25mm bed. I've read about other presumably pre mixed adhesives so didnt know if I should be using these instead?
Do I lay the mix down the whole path, or just a few rows at a time as I go? Any tips on how to end up with the whole path being level greatly appreciated. This is probably my biggest worry.
Finally, what about grouting? What to use, and do I do it at the end, or as I go along?
Thanks in advance,
Stu.

[kilty55]

hello stu,honest opinion get a pro to do that 1 for you

how thick is your base and what was it poured onto

[Stu78]

Hi Kilty, yep I was afraid that was going to be the answer... Funds are tight so was hoping to avoid it, but its probably inevitable.

base is prob at least 5" thick, and was poured onto the soil which by the time I got down that far was heavily compacted so I figured it would be ok.

[timeless john]

Stu - 5" concrete onto soil !!!!! Should have gone min 6" onto a hardcore base. For fixing a 25mm or 1" bed of sand/cement screed is not adequate enough. You best go the frost proof/waterproof adhesive route, but this will only give you a maximum bed of around 10mm direct to your substrate. However you may find this method preferable for a DIY approach.

[Phil Hobson]

As TJ for me, concrete raft on soil not good. A hardcore base with 6" min concrete. you may be lucky, and try the old way, 25mm sand and cement screed, laid fairly wet ( not to wet) but not semi-dry, then slurry to fix tiles.

This is not ideal, but if you incorporate SBR into your 3:1 sand and cement and get the mix spot on, use portland cement + SBR as a slurry mix to fix the tiles ( in the old days tilers did not have the luxury of SBR) I know there a lot of guys on here that have used this method when circumstances dictate.

It is by no means the best way to go about your particular job, but as you are governed by the heights you have given yourself. It may be an alternative, I do understand that most technical depts and other people may shoot me down, but I know of a good few jobs I did myself 40+yrs ago are still going strong. If I was in your position, I would get a pro in.