Brick Pavers Repair, Cleaning, & Sealing Peaking this Summer

This past week we completed some intricate brick pavers repair, cleaning, and sealing jobs that restored some of the original beauty & function. Each of these brick paver installations have been installed over 10 years.  After we completed our restoration service, they all looked like they had been installed yesterday!

With high school graduations, weddings, and parties an integral part of Summer events, restoration of brick pavers patios, walks, driveways, and pool areas are at an all time high request for us brick paver contractors.  Balancing needs with budgets is always a challenge for homeowners but an optimum plan of attack has always been manageable.

Each paver restoration project this week required some extensive and touch-up repairs of areas that had failed or where neglected over time. Each project was power washed & cleaned and paver joints were restored. 

The  "coup de gras" was each project was sealed with an approved brick paver sealant to enhance the color and give the brick pavers the much popular "wet look" appearance.

 Each homeowner has committed themselves to a routine maintenance program that will insure long-term performance and appearance.  Minimal routine paver services will help avoid any costly future restoration needs. We educated these homeowners about simple steps to take to maintain the appearance of their pavers and explained the need to observe the signs of distress that may lead to future expensive repairs if not addressed early.

Brick Paver Walkway Repair & Polymeric Sanding

This past week in Ann Arbor we did a brick paver repair of a brick walkway & porch approach. This brick paver walkway was in need of immediate attention. According to the customer, the paver walk had quickly deteriorated this past few years.  Due to the lack of yearly maintenance and some homeowner inspection, this paving stone walk began to fail.

This brick paver walkway had evidence of severe erosion due to joint gapping, lack of paver joint sand, weed & grass growth in the paver joints, and the exposure of the cement bead edge restraint.  Paving stones where loose and uneven and the brick walk was beginning to stretch or move out throughout the paver pathway & porch approach.

 We lifted up all the paving stones, power washed them off, recompacted the old paver base material, added some new paver base to relevel properly, relaid the paving stones, installed a new cement bead paver edge restraint, and finally finished off the paver joints with polymeric sand. We also covered up the outside edge restraint with soil & sod to protect the outside edges from erosion.


After we completed this brick paver repair project, I spent a half hour educating my customer on the yearly paver maintenance requirements. I also pointed out the early signs of any trouble the pavers may exhibit so he can have us address these issues before they become a costly paver repair.


Another successful brick paver restoration by Brick Doctor Bill this week. We will move on to the other side of Ann Arbor this week to help bring back the beauty & function of paving stones and retaining walls in your neighborhood!

Brick Paver Patio Repairs : Not So Easy

We are working hard on a brick paver patio repair in Ann Arbor. This paver patio is a basement walkout brick patio that has been neglected for years.  It has drastically sunk and the drain is non functional because the brick pavers are almost sunk a foot below.  The new homeowner just purchased this property and the paver patio failed the home inspection.  
                 Brick Doctor Bill is here to the rescue!


Often when I quote for brick paver repairs, homeowners believe it is an easy process to reinstall the brick pavers since they are already there.  This is far from the truth. The first step is to lift up, stack, and carry the brick pavers to a staging area. Often this is a messy and back  breaking job. Todays job was down 6 stairs and the paving stones had to be carried up.

The old brick pavers are staged in an area until the base material is properly prepped for reinstallation.  Aside from digging, the prepping steps of interlocking pavers is performed : compaction, screeding, cutting, sanding, edge restraint installation, etc..


One of the most time consuming steps in brick paver repair is the cleaning of the pavers prior to reinstalling.  The brick pavers need to be powerwashed on all sides or scraped as in this picture. Dirt, sand, or old paver sealer sticks mainly to the sides and has to be removed prior to relaying pavers. Homeowners never realize this step takes place. For the brick paver contractor, it would be easier to use new pavers at this stage. Of course, that would be an added expense for the homeowner and this cost is offset by our nominal charge.



Once the paving stones are cleaned and ready for re-installation, the brick paver stacks are then carried back to the working area and carefully placed for relaying. Today's job in Ann Arbor was grueling because we had to carry the stacks down steps to the paver patio area.  Time to take some Motrin and lay in the jacuzzi tub!

A Brick Paver Repair to Avoid

Paving Stone Repair

Today I did a brick paver repair bid on a paver patio in Ann Arbor. Here is a picture of a common paver repair I see each Spring.  In the picture, you can see that the one paving stone that the leg of this fire grill is on has sunk. The most common occurrence I see of this effect is when people leave their patio furniture umbrella stand on the paver patio through the Winter.

This common paver patio repair is the result of the weight of the fire grill not allowing this individual paving stone and paver base below to flex to frost movements. Therefore, the surrounding pavers and paver base were able to flex to the freeze thaw cycle and the one paving stone the leg sat on did not. The result is the weighted down paver sunk into the base as the surrounding paver base flexed up.

Though this brick paver repair is minimal, it can be a nuisance and eyesore. In frost states like Michigan, it is important NOT to leave (stationary) any weighted items on your brick paver patios, walks, drives, or porches through the frost Winter months. Just simplly place items in your plant beds, garage, or yard until the winter frost has disappeared from your soil or paver base.