So I'm in the process of re-doing a few of the brick paver patios at our new house (yes we have a few). There were some issues with the frost kicking up a few sections, so I pulled them all, re-screeded and tamped the base, then set them back in. My question is this. There's basically two trains of thought as to what you use as the jointing material. Many claim sand or fine screenings are sufficient, while others insist that polymeric sand be used. I know the pro's and cons of both, but I was wondering if any of you have patios, and what joint filler was used? How long has the patio been in place, and is there significant heaving? Any thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.
Polymeric or regular fine grit sand? The few brick jobs I did around my parents house as a kid with my dad, we just used sand. Only issue is it's longevity and the fact that weeds can still penetrate (no I didn't put any landscape fabric down because I didn't go below the sub-base). The polymeric is like 3 times the cost of regular sand, so I don't want to use it if there's not a REALLY big advantage.
Might try a light wash after applying the sand and then add more. Last one I built I repeated this process five or six times and in the ten years we lived there, didn't have any problems with the paver patio. Good luck!
Thanks, I've heard of applying several "coats" of sand over a period of a few days to allow for settling. I finished the first tier tonight. I just need to install some edging, then I can put in the sand.
I built a big patio and sidewalk years ago at my house in Maryland. I had 6 inches of quarry dust underneath and used sand swept in to stabilize it all. The last year I was there, patio being about 12 or 15 years old by then I had to do what you just did. It wasn't the frost though for me. It was tree roots pushing up from a big soft maple on the edge of the patio... so I had to scrape out some quarry dust. Maryland doesn't get the frost we do here in Upstate New York, but they get some. Sand is fine. Sprinkle in and broom in some Preen a couple times a year, early spring and mid summer and you won't have any weeds. My sidewalk was real bricks and never had any problems. The patio out back was concrete pavers. Sand is easy, cheap and does the trick. ON the sidewalks I laid and drove home every brick with a rubber mallet. On the patio I rented a vibrating compacter and run it on small pieces of plywood laid down so I didn't scratch the pavers.
