image is the base of sand and on the right is some bricks as guides as to where i'm going to lay the floor and the projected front arches for chimney etc.
I then laid the "fondue" onto the sand, the plan was to place the bricks onto the floor and smack them with a rubber mallet to get them level/even, thus the mortar/fondue would give way to make this happen...WHAT actually happened was the fondur dried really quickly so i had to keep wetting it and it ended up being a real RACE for time. that area you see there is just 65cm sq so it wasn't a large area. if i did it again i would definatel have help and mix less mortar at any 1 time.
As it was i mixed just 30litres (mass), that is 2.5fondue - 1water - 4sand, THUS that was converted to 10litres of fondue - 4litres of water - 16litres of sand.
I put a sliver of mortar between the bricks, i have been told (by an expert) that this helps stop the ash from falling through the gaps and eventually forcing the bricks up thus making you have to re-lay the floor.
We also then "grouted" the bricks to make sure no gaps, it got messy but it was easily washed off with just water.
