Welcome to the Pittsburgh Stone & Waterscapes Education Series. My name is Jeff Kennedy.
Here at Pittsburgh Stone & Waterscapes, were committed to changing the way our customers
view the construction industry. That's why were not just focused on educating our crews
on the latest techniques and products, we're also focused on educating our customers. Not
just on what we do, but also why we do it.
Pavers are used in a variety of renovation projects such as patios, walkways, and driveways,
but, have you ever wondered what it takes to bond the pavers together? In this video,
we're gonna look at how our teams use polymeric sand in the installation of paver projects,
and why it's important.
Here's Neil Manos, from Alliance, to explain polymeric Sand...Neil?
Polymeric Sand is a mix of graded ASTM-144 sand and polymer. Polymer is like a glue that
binds the sand together. It's in a dry mix and it is activated with water. Polymeric
sand is designed to get solidified in the joint and it is designed to resist weeds,
insects, and any kind of erosion from rain.
It's very important to use the proper type of Polymeric Sands. Your professional installer
will know the proper Polymeric Sands to use. Not one sand is designed for every situation.
Polymeric Sand is very resistant to the many freeze and thaw cycles we have in the Pittsburgh
area. With those freeze/thaw cycles, you have the possibility for the pavers to move, and
for the joint to break, but that polymeric sand helps resist that cracking and breaking.
So today we're going to be installing the Polymeric Sand in the paver joints. We're
going to take the bag, flip it around a couple of times, open the bag up, and we're gonna
spread the sand out.
We're gonna take the broom and we're gonna sweep the sand and fill up the joints completely.
Now, once the joints are filled up completely, we're gonna go over it with a vibratory roller
compactor (is the preferred method). Compaction is a very, very important step in the process.
It helps consolidate the joint, and make sure the sand is nice and dense in the joint.
Once that compaction is complete, we're gonna fill the joints back up again, re-compact
as necessary, and then go into the watering process.
After the final sweeping of the sand and the leaf blower, we're gonna soak the joints now.
Polymeric Sands that we use are rain-safe within 15 minutes, but they typically set
up in 48-hours. That is with no rain in the forecast. Once it has the time to dry out
it will set up and help resist those weeds, those insects, and that erosion.
Polymeric Sand can last up to 15+ years in the right application and the right setting.
You want to do, again, a weekly leaf blowing, cleaning off of any debris. And, typically,
every spring you can do a general cleaning with a all-purpose cleaner like a Simply Green,
anything that will actually clean the pavers. And, if you want to clean them very well,
and bring out the colors more, you can use an effervescence cleaner that you can get
from your professional.