Brick Paver Joint Sand: Change in my Recommendation

#1 Brick Paver Maintenance Requirement

For years now I have preached to my clients, "Do NOT sweep play sand into your brick paver joints!".  Well, I have a slight change in my recommendation for this yearly brick pavers maintenance requirement.  Play Sand generally is a fluffy yellow sand with very little granular substance to assist in bonding. In Ann Arbor, this type of sand graduation will splash or blow out of brick paver joints and make your experience with interlocking pavers frustrating. Silica Sand also does not perform well as a paver joint sand.

As mentioned in early posts, keeping your paver joints filled with joint sand is a crucial yearly requirement for the long-term performance of paver patios, walkways, driveways, porches, etc.. . Paver joint sand is essential in keeping proper lock-up of the paving stones and help deter the effects of erosion, settling, and weed growth.

Most brick paver manufacturers distribute an approved paver joint sand that is either privately labeled or from a national supplier.  Obviously these products are an approved paver joint sand to use for your interlocking pavers project but usually carry an unnecessary cost and not readily available to you geographically.

For the last 10 years I have been recommending and using Quikcrete's "all purpose sand" for paver joint sweeping. This all purpose sand had a similar sand graduation (sieve rate) as the more costly paver manufacturer's joint sand and is also screened, washed, and dried.  These processes are important to remove unwanted substances like dirt, weed seeds, and silt.

This past Spring I started to notice that  Quikcrete's "all purpose sand" was beginning to have a larger sand graduation (sieve rate) which was allowing larger pebbles to be present in the mix. These larger pebbles of sand either do not sweep into the paver joints or lodge themselves in the joint, thus not allowing proper filling of the paver joints.  We found ourselves having to discard about of 1/3rd of each bag. This was not only inconvenient but eliminated any cost savings.

I did some further investigation and discovered that Quikcrete's "Premium" play sand had a similar sand graduation (sieve rate) to the paver manufacturer's paver joint sand. It also is screened, washed, and dried. Unlike cheap or the original fluffy play sand, this "premium" play sand has a granular mix to assist in bonding & lock-up. It also has enough sand fines to allow for easy and successful filling of paver joints. 

I do want to say that I am not recommending "all" play sands. My investigation at this point has only concluded that Quikcrete's "Premium" play sand is an acceptable joint sand for your brick paver joints.


At Lowe's and Home Depot, this play sand runs @ $3.50 per bag. This is a considerable savings from the $7.50-$8 / bag for paver manufacturer joint sand bags. I understand that there is a cost for private labels and convenience, but this is an unnecessary cost for clients who can easily obtain an acceptable replacement at a local hardware store.

Winterizing your Brick Pavers

I am asked alot about the need for "winterizing" brick paver patios, walks, or driveways. The great news is that interlocking brick pavers are designed and installed to withstand the ill effects of winter climate & frost cycles and do not necessarily require any winter prep.

I do have some suggestions that will help in the long-term success and aesthetics of your brick paver installation.

• Remove any heavy items or vehicles that you plan on leaving on your brick pavers throughout the winter months. The reason is that the area under a heavy item or tires will not flex to the freeze thaw cycle, thus possibly causing sunken areas as the base below shifts. Over the years I have noticed, especially on brick paver patios,where homeowners leave there patio table base (filled with sand or water), leaves a slight indention in this brick paver area. Also, on driveways where homeowners leave boat trailers, campers, motor homes, etc.. the spots where the tires sat through the winter freeze thaw cycles are sunken.

• Sweep some joint sand in all the joints if needed. I always instruct my clients that brick paver joints will require a resweep of joint sand each Spring after the winter frost effects. But if the sand is low in your brick paver joints heading into the Winter, it would be a good idea to do a quick sweep. Brick Paver joints that are filled will allow for proper drainage of late season rains and also properly hold pavers in place. Really you should always keep your brick pavers filled with joint sand all year round for optimum success.

• Redirect any direct water or ice sources from draining on your brick pavers. If there are any gutter spouts that drain onto your brick pavers, it would be a good idea if possible to connect a solid corrugated pipe to the end of the gutter spout and run into the grass or plant bed. The constant freezing and thawing of snow and ice that runs down the gutter onto a brick paver patio, walk, or driveway will create a tremendous stress on your pavers in this area. Hopefully you addressed water drainage during the original brick paver installation but it will be important to reduce any thaw drainage & refreezing.

These are just a few things you can do to add to the long-term success and aesthetics of your brick paver installation. There is no need to cover your pavers or shovel off your paver patio. Just let the functional beauty and benefits of interlocking brick pavers do there job and enjoy!