Re pointing a patio.

[scoob101]

Hi, a few years ago I had a new patio laid and have never been happy with the way the pointing was done, and after a couple of years of jet washing loads of it has come out. So now I am going to remove all the existing pointing and re point it all myself, any advice on strength of mix or different sands to use.

Also when it is finished I will be re sealing the patio with wet look patio sealer any advice on this would be great too ( what brand and how many coats ). And will wet look sealer make the slabs slippery when wet as if this is the case I will just re seal it with normal patio sealer.
Thanks.

[paddywak]

When I did our patio, I bought some ready mixed grout from Wiickes, If I remember it was about £6.00 for a bucket,they have seveal different sizes, If you use it though give it a good shake first as if it's been stored a while the cement and sand seperate. I did ours 4 years ago and its still ok

[RATTER15]

I think generally a dry mix of sand and cement is just brushed into the joints unless yours is a bit more fancy. :-)

[landscaper2]

I would always use a damp mix 3/1 soft sand/cement, firmly grouted with a trowel and finished with an 'iron' or struck with a pointing trowel. http://www.pavingexpert.com/pointing.htm#dry

[AlBags]

Brushing in is a cheap-jack way and doesn't look half as good as manually pointing in. Use a bricklaying mix or pack and trowel in hard by hand. When gone off .. cut along the joint sides top create a great finish if required.