Sand or mortar for inbetween block paving?

[Matt_N]

Having destroyed my knees and back over the weekend getting all the moss, weeds and mud out of the gaps in the block paving I am now looking to refill it, but dont know what with.

Do you use sand or mortar? One person said kiln dried sand, another said a dry mortar (pre mixed cement/sand) mix then sprinkle with water to allow it to set.

Edit - doh, typo in title.

Edited by Matt_N on Friday 24th April 10:14

[Nicholas Blair]

sand. brush it in

The mortar sounds like hard work to me.

[bridgdav]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Kiln dried sand

[Don]

bridgdav said:

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
Kiln dried sand

[Busamav]

and only when the ground is truly bone dry.

[mrmaggit]

Use kiln dried sand as has been said.

98% of the stuff you've cleaned out will have been wind-sown, a treatment early spring with sodium chlorate diluted with water will stop that for most of the season, just be careful if the drive borders lawns of plants, because it is indiscriminate.

[Gingerbread Man]

As said above. You brush Kiln Dried Sand into the joints. Make sure the block paving is dry or the sand will clump.

[_Deano]

Matt_N said:

Having destroyed my knees and back over the weekend getting all the moss, weeds and mud out of the gaps in the block paving I am now looking to refill it, but dont know what with.

Do you use sand or mortar? One person said kiln dried sand, another said a dry mortar (pre mixed cement/sand) mix then sprinkle with water to allow it to set.

Edit - doh, typo in title.

Edited by Matt_N on Friday 24th April 10:14

Wouldn't have been easier to use a pressure washer?
Only ask, as i am thinking about doing my drive with some new sand, but don't want to spend a day digging out the weeds and crap that has grown.

[bazking69]

All fine and dandy as long as you never need to pressure wash the slabs...

[Matt_N]

I pressure washered first to clean the bricks, this also got most of the moss out but some of the weeds were a bit reluctant, so required a bit of grafting.

It hasnt rained since last weekend here and its been mid teens all week, so it should all be nice and dry.

Kiln dried sand it is then, cheers chaps.

[TheGreatSoprendo]

Did mine the other week and struggled to find anybody with kiln dried sand in stock, but Wickes came up trumps in the end.

[mrmr96]

Am I right in thinking that if you need to clean the patio once it has kiln dried sand in the gaps, it will get forced out of the joints by the water pressure? Or does it 'set' somehow?

[CatherineJ]

There is a product you can buy that is a stabelising solution, it effectlively turns the sand hard.

[mrmaggit]

CatherineJ said:

There is a product you can buy that is a stabelising solution, it effectlively turns the sand hard.

It stops the sand being scoured out, until the general crap in the atmosphere seals it in.

[R5GTTGAZ]

Just mix a bit of cement powder in with the sand and put it in dry (ouch)

[mrmaggit]

R5GTTGAZ said:

Just mix a bit of cement powder in with the sand and put it in dry (ouch)

No, Don't.

The correct thing to do has already been posted on this thread.

[neilsie]

mrmaggit said:

CatherineJ said:

There is a product you can buy that is a stabelising solution, it effectlively turns the sand hard.

It stops the sand being scoured out, until the general crap in the atmosphere seals it in.

which product is this?

[mrmaggit]

neilsie said:

mrmaggit said:

CatherineJ said:

There is a product you can buy that is a stabelising solution, it effectlively turns the sand hard.

It stops the sand being scoured out, until the general crap in the atmosphere seals it in.

which product is this?

Just ask for Block Paving Stabiliser.

It's a milky white liquid that you dilute with water and sprinkle on. It stops the kiln dried sand from being washed away by rain. If the area you have is flat or only very slightly sloping (as it should be to allow water to drain off), it's really not necessary for standard type block paving.

If, however, you're paving is of the tumbled type, or the area has a significant slope on it, it has real benefits in stopping sand scouring.

As has been said on here before, if you absolutely MUST use a pressure washer on your block paving (and I'd recommend you didn't) use it at low power, at as flat an angle as you can, at 90 degrees to the gap between the blocks.

It is far better to treat the paving with weedkiller and LEAVE IT AT THAT! 98% of what grows in the joints is wind-sown, the other 2% will be either trees or Knotweed.