Opinions please - strange paving!

[red devil]

Kai, does the inside of your fridge look like this?... :)

I've amended my earlier comment...

[Kai_63]

Ha! It is just clean lines in my designs I need. Not so good on the orderliness front. I don't appear to be the only one anyway. I really shouldn't be living in a wonky Victorian house! Have decided to leave it as it is and see how it looks with furniture etc. May add a raised bed at the side or something to hide it a bit more too.

[Siduhe]

I think you would notice it more/be more conscious of it if it was lined up in the way you suggest - it would draw the eye a lot (at least for me it would!) more than the current arrangement which looks a lot more natural to me. But I very much get that once you notice something you can't "unnotice" it...

[JohnL]

There's definitely two types of people when it comes to this :)

I'm group A - it's fine

[Blah Blah]

Looks fine to me. Once the lawn is down and the gaps are mortar filled you won't notice it. Aligning across the area means every slab on one side would have to be angle cut and then you'd have odd angles to the connecting wall or building. That might have bugged you more.

[intexasatthe moment]

Is there a group C for people who don't understand what the slabs are meant to be aligned with ? They seem to line up with the house ( i don't understand about the house behind Kai's house ,where is it ? ) .Is it just that all the joints are meant to be in one unbroken line ?

Please feel free to ignore me .

[stringvest]

I think it looks fine too !! I agree with what the other people have said, when they have said it looks fine, and why the builder did it that way.

Now about that bare brick wall ???? whats going there ??

[HelBel65]

Entirely sympathise with you on this Kai, I live in a victorian building on a hill and have had to accept that nothing lines up with anything else! Agree with the person who said the mortar will make a big difference, just make sure it isn't dark brown which is sometimes the default. My builder mixed white cement in which smoothed the whole thing out and looks great. Good luck!

[Kai_63]

Thanks all. The mortar went down yesterday and is unfortunately mid brown/grey, I had assumed they would use a greyer one, hopefully it will fade a bit over time. I've learnt a lot of lessons on this! Firstly, not to assume anything. That said, now the lawn is about to go down it isn't that bad. When the furniture goes on it will be much less noticeable.

We have put trellises on the back wall so we can get some climbers going (to clarify that is the back wall of the other house that I mentioned).

[Blah Blah]

I'm pretty sure the colour of mortar is determined by the ratio of the mix of cement to sand (and lime if used) and that only pure cement/ concrete would be completely grey.

[stringvest]

I am sure it will look lovely when finished. The patio (I get the offset thing) will weather and look less stark. It would be good,if you would be so kind, as to keep us updated of the progress, of this garden, its rare to see a garden develop from nothing to haven unless you are next-door and nosey !! Thank you.

[HelBel65]

Blah Blah Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm pretty sure the colour of mortar is determined

> by the ratio of the mix of cement to sand (and

> lime if used) and that only pure cement/ concrete

> would be completely grey

Not being an expert I can't be sure how, but after a lot of research my builder was able to make a custom pale grey mix that matched the slabs. Happy to find out what he did if anyone wants to know! :)

[intexasatthe moment]

Golly I can be stupid - I see what is meant by the house behind ! Can't believe I couldn't before . Won't bore with details but sometimes when I look at things it's like an optical illusion .

http://www.moillusions.com/young-lady-or-old-hag/