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normal bucket handle pointing clears water better and doesn't leave a comparatively fragile point for weather to attack
I had assumed all this but Mrs Bobbo has had an attack of keeping up with the Joneses.
Bobbo-
Bugger the Joneses and a (non-Corona) plague on all their houses and pointing! Let them re-point their patios every 3 years, if they try to re-point the frost damaged areas only, the pointing will never match and the entire patio will look shite!
I should have made it clear to all the normal humans that the mix is 3 building sand to 1 cement.
ColinTheBald
A bit fiddly and fairly pointless, normal bucket handle pointing clears water better and doesn't leave a comparatively fragile point for weather to attack. If you must do it, perhaps between uneven stone, keep the mortar dryish.
For normal pointing (without a pointing gun), use a 3:1 mix just damp enough to stick together and karate chop it into the cracks with a trowel edge. Finish with a pointing trowel or lump of hose and brush away the excess with a soft brush. Build up a heap of just damp mix over the cracks, chop in and move the remainder over the next crack with the trowel. This method ensures the mix won't stick to the slabs or stone and stain them. If you screw up and mix it too wet, sit it on a board in a heap for a while. Don't point if there is a chance of an overnight frost, cover overnight if the temperature is likely to fall below 5 degrees.
That advice was for the general hive, not for you, Bobbo!