Patio mortar bed hasn’t set

[Amalething]

18 months ago I laid a 20mm porcelain patio on a approx 60mm full wet bed, 100mm MOT. This summer I noticed the tiles weren’t holding and raised in places. Having lifted a tile to create a trellis flower bed, the mortar mix is holding to the porcelain but the mortar bed was soft.

I mixed by hand a 6:1 mix using sharp sand. Although I’m a novice, the ratio didn’t seem that important as various sources suggested 10:1 or 4:1.

I also raised + extended a dry mix patio 40*40mm concrete tile, and made a block paving single car drive way over grass which are still going strong.

But I’m now really nervous doing another full wet bed and rectifying current patio, and not making the same mistake.

IMO when lifting the tiles the mix looked awfully sandy. More cement less water??

 

[blup]

18 months ago I laid a 20mm porcelain patio on a approx 60mm full wet bed, 100mm MOT. This summer I noticed the tiles weren’t holding and raised in places. Having lifted a tile to create a trellis flower bed, the mortar mix is holding to the porcelain but the mortar bed was soft.

I mixed by hand a 6:1 mix using sharp sand. Although I’m a novice, the ratio didn’t seem that important as various sources suggested 10:1 or 4:1.

I also raised + extended a dry mix patio 40*40mm concrete tile, and made a block paving single car drive way over grass which are still going strong.

But I’m now really nervous doing another full wet bed and rectifying current patio, and not making the same mistake.

IMO when lifting the tiles the mix looked awfully sandy. More cement less water??

Maybe too much water in what is a dryish mix? Is it soft enough to add cement to the existing to avoid digging it all out, maybe as an experiment on one or two of the slabs?