Apr 17, 2010

Paver Patio Repair and Cleaning in Ann Arbor

We are currently working on a Paver Patio repair and cleaning in Ann Arbor. This paver patio had severe settling along the house foundation and due to no ongoing paver maintenance, the paver joints where full of weeds, grass, moss, and dirt. This particular brick paver repair will cost the homeowner $950 to clean & re-install approx. 90sq.ft of brick pavers & base, aggressively power wash the remaining 200 sq.ft. of brick pavers and paver joints, and re-sweep with polymeric (bonding) sand. Below I will explain the cause of these brick paver repairs and some steps to avoid costly patio repair in the future.

This first picture is of the paver patio area we needed to re-install the patio pavers.  This area experienced severe settling due to one major factor: WATER !  See the gutter coming down on the house in the left portion of the picture. It has been dumping water into this area of the patio since the paver patio was installed. The brick paver contractor should have designed or ran a drainpipe out into the yard to redirect this water flow. The customer said it has been a slow 4 year process of settling. Once this paver area began to settle, all water from the paver patio began to flow back into this area too.  Each Winter's frost feasted on this area due to the presence of water & moisture. The result: The pavers buckling and sinking over a foot down! She lost the use of about 1/3 of her paver patio since it became hazardous and unsightly.

To help avoid this brick paver repair, always make sure that all water from gutters is redirected into grass areas by buried drainpipes or gutter extensions. Also, at the first sign of settling and the water flow of the paver patio is moving back, it must be addressed or the damage will become more severe and expensive. Not to mention that this may cause water damage to your foundation or basement. We did connect a gutter extension so the water would flow out into the yard.

In this second  picture of the paver patio, you will see the results of brick paver maintenance neglect.  The paver joints have alot of dirt, weeds, grass, and moss growing in them. Grass has actually grown over the last 2 rows of bricks on the outside of the paver patio. This customer in 4 years has never re-swept paver joint sand in the joints each Spring. She was not aware of this small paver maintenance step since her landscaping contractor did not educate her on this need.  Now she is paying $300 to clean her patio pavers & paver joints and have re-swept with polymeric sand ! It would have cost her @$6.00 worth of regular joint sand and 20 minutes of her time each Spring to keep her paver patio looking good and functional!

We completed the work with 3 workers in a day but it was pretty grueling. The customer was ecstatic to have her brick paver patio & pride back! I took the time to educate her on some brick paver repair preventive steps that she can perform. If she is too busy, we can perform these brick paver services at a nominal charge. Do not let your brick paver patio get to this despair, it will only cost you money & heartache.

You can check out the finished results of this paver patio in a few weeks when we return to take some snapshots at Paver Repair Before & After on our Website. Look for our next job post within the week.