No sooner is a hosepipe ban introduced than the heavens open up and show no signs of stopping. This is typical of British weather. May is usually one of my favourite months of the year but 2012 has been a complete washout so far. I speak to a lot of garden desisgners and landscape gardeners on a daily basis and they are pullling their hair out as many clients are putting planting and other landscaping projects on hold until the Autumn. One of the big problems is that there is a lot of mis information flying about. Some authorities are giving a 28 day exemption on newly laid turf while others are not. It seems unfair that the ban is affecting peoples businesses and I am a strong believer that commercial business should be exempt from this ban. I dont see any bans coming into force for all these hand car washes that are popping up on every street corner.
The rain has also been a double whammy for landscapers as their hard landscaping projects are now being slowed down by the rain. Anyone who has laid Sandstone Paving will know that laying in the rain, while not being impossible, is much more difficult. Heavy rain can wash the cement content out of mortar significantly reducing the mortars strength. Pointing also becomes much more difficult in the rain unless using a brush in compound. A lot of the Sawn Paving that we supply needs to be sealed, another job which becomes impossible unless you have dry storage area. W
London Stone have been corporate members of the ETI for over 3 years. By joining the ETI we commit to implementing the ETI’s 9 point base code. There is a perception amongst the general public in Great Britain that the production of Indian Sandstone Paving is unethical, that child labour is used, that staff are paid very low wages and that the conditions for workers are dangerous. About 30% off the natural stone paving supplied by London Stone comes from India. London Stone have been importing natural stone from India for the past 5 years and we have seen massive changes and improvements in the working conditons in the factories in India. One of the key factors which has driven change is the mechanisation of the Indian Sandstone industry. The majority of sandstone imported from India is now calibrated and Sawn Paving is becoming more and more popular. The use of machinery is improving the safety standards of factories and is also improving the workers awareness of thier own health & safety. Go back 5 years and PPE in India was unheard of. Visit Indian factories now and as well as seeing piles of Sandstone Paving you will also see workers wearing safety boots and high visibility clothing. Were not saying the situation over in India is perfect but things are finally beginning to move in the right direction. When I speak to my suppliers in India about PPE, the biggest problem they are facing is trying to convince the older staff to wear PPE. Its a massive culture change for these older stone masons who have got by for years not wearing PPE. The encouraging thing to see when visiting the stone yards in India is that the majority of the younger stone masons are wearing the PPE, this bodes well for the future of the industry.
London Stone are currently updating their paving display at Vermeulens Garden Centre. Our current display houses over 30 different natural stone paving products. Over the winter we have added 3 new products to our paving range and have subsequently had to re-design our display to make room for the new products. The new products we have introduced in 2012 are Crema Sandstone, Tumbled Black Sandstone, Tumbled Grey Sandstone and Black Basalt. The introduction of the 2 new tumbled products increases our tumbled range from two to four products. Tumbled Paving is generally used for traditional garden designs and is a low maintenance, durable paving option. The Crema Sandstone is a consistent light coloured sandstone. Crema is really hard and features sawn edges with a lightly rivened surface. All the new products are now on display along with our market leading range of Sawn Paving
Over the course of 2011 London Stone investigated significantly in state of the art stone cutting/processing equipment. Doing so has enabled us to improve the efficiency of our Bespoke Stone production, something which has now become a key part of our business. As the popularity of Sawn Paving continues to grow in the UK, more and more people will opt for bespoke stone to compliment their Sawn Paving. Stone bullnose step treads, coping stones, pier caps and stone pool surrounds can all be crafted from Yorkstone, Sawn Sandstone, Limestone, Slate and Travertine.
Quoting for bespoke natural stone also requires experienced people so we have also employed 2 dedicated natural stone estimators to deal with bespoke stone enquiries. Clients can send in detailed technical drawings and leave them in the capable hands of our skilled stone estimators who can also advise on design and construction aspects.
London Stone are always looking to increase the size of our Sawn Paving range. We are awaiting for our first consignment of Black Basalt Sawn Paving to arrive from China. The basalt paving we are bringing in will be sawn on all six sides with a flame textured surface. Basalt is an extremely hard natural stone and is resistant to dirt and staining, it does not generally need to be sealed and it will retain its original colour for a long time without fading. Our Sawn Paving range has become really popular over the last 2 -3 years and we are always trying to bring in new products to add to it. For information or samples of our sawn range, please contact a member of our sales team