patios

Last year we moved house which has a lovely large square garden app 60ftx60ft it has quite a large patio wrapping round the back of the house app 60ft wide and app 8ft deep - it looks as though it has been down for a number of years and has some uneven slabs also the mortar between the slabs has all but disappeared therefore allowing weeds through - we have had some quotes for a new patio but way out of what we can afford or justify, they also all say that the area has to be dug down to relay base etc.- advice please - as the ground is now well compacted can the slabs or maybe new slabs just be re bedded and levelled with sand/cement mix and new dry mix mortar swept in to joins?  -  Surely this is sufficient for a patio that only has for the most part 2 adults and one dog using it, a patio table and chairs and a BBQ - we would appreciate some advice and know how please

Hello,

I worked as an apprentice stone mason some 25 year ago and learned all the techniques on how to do the job and also if the flagged area was sound and true and all that needed was to replace the odd broken one and resite the loose ones the guy i used to work with would book the whole job down as a re-lift and relay so you are right in what you say all you will need is some river sand to re-bed the loose ones and to replace the broken ones then get a good strong weed killer and spray the cracks then wait a couple of weeks until it has worked then just clean your patio with a preasure washer and when clean get a bag of cement and with the remainder of the sand mix 2 sand to 1 cement and brush lightly into the cracks and then with a fine rose on a watering can just go over slowly untill al the cement is wet and leave to dry .Good luck