Get Out There and Sand Sweep your Brick Pavers !

Spring Sand Sweeping is required maintenance of Brick Pavers in Michigan

Spring has sprung early in Southeast Michigan this March!  It is not too early to get out there on a dry & warm day and sweep joint sand over your entire brick paver patio, walkway, driveway, or porch.  Whether you perform this routine maintenance service yourself or hire a brick paver contractor, filling any paver joints void of sand is crucial to long-term performance & success.

In March & early April, paving stones in Michigan can be a little loose from an unstable & spongy base, as well as, the lack of sand in the paver joints.  Time will solidify the the base underneath but you will be responsible for making sure the paver joints are refilled with joint sand.

Here is an earlier post on reasons to keep up on sweeping paver joints that may be helpful for you.  It is important for a hired quality contractor to also be an educator or teacher of their expertise. Homeowner's need "real life" advice and not biased opinions endorsing any product or agenda.  Simple sand sweeping of paver joints will greatly improve any homeowners benefits and experiences with brick paver projects.

Raised Paver Patio Repair of Wall Cap

Building a raised paver patio takes some experience & expertise to insure a functional and creative paver installation.  This particular brick paver patio was installed by a reputable local landscaper that obviously lacked the foresight & experience to accomplish this goal.

The capping of all modular retaining walls to retain the paver patio and paver steps leading into the doorwall were capped using the pavers, not the proper cap units for the retaining wall blocks.   This would not be such a big issue if they had properly installed the paving stones without gaps that allowed the paver joint sand to seep out.

As a result of this poor paver capping, the pavers behind the brick caps settled all along the perimeter of the paver patio, paver steps, and sitting walls.  The inexperienced landscaper did not use the right size paver to cap with so it would allow them to mitre cut nice & tight.  This fear or neglect of cutting has now cost this customer aggravation and money to correct.

We removed all the old brick paver caps and lifted about 16" behind the wall to reset sunken paving stones through out the paver patio.  We could NOT use the proper retaining wall cap units because they are 3 1/2" thick and the brick caps were only 2 3/8" thick.  For us to install the proper retaining wall caps, we would either have to re lift ALL of the paver patio to reset the height or lower the modular retaining wall blocks.  Both these options are more expensive than recapping the raised patio wall with a larger paving stone and cutting them in properly.

The new brick paver caps were cut to fit tight and re adhered to the modular blocks. The paving stones behind the brick caps were reinstalled, compacted, and finished with paver joint sand.  Brick Doctor Bill and his experienced staff have made another customer happy & confident.

Remember to hire an interlocking brick paver specialist for your next brick pavers or retaining wall project.