Polymeric Sand Installation | Guide to No Failures

installing polymeric sand is the final step in your paver project and should be installed according to the manufacturer's guidelines to ensure the longevity of your project polymeric sand is a formula of sand polymers and other additives depending on the manufacturer that prevents weed growth insects and works to stabilize your paver surface when activated with water and left to cure the sand becomes hard yet flexible to be able to move with the paving stones without cracking over time it is just one of several options for a jointing compound to be installed in the joints of your project there are best practices when it comes to a polymeric sand installation these are the three steps to installing polymeric sand spreading the sand over the area consolidating the sand to the bottom of the paver joint and activating the sand with water the sweeping and consolidation steps may need to be repeated to fill the joints to the level they need to be filled to when choosing your polymeric sand you need to understand the application as well as the joint width there are sands for overlay and non-overlay applications and sands for various joint widths if you are installing pavers over a concrete slab you will want to make sure you choose a polymeric sand for an overlay application if you're installing flagstone with wider joints you'll want to make sure you use a polymeric sand that is able to be installed to accommodate that joint with every polymeric sand requires the surface and the joints of the pavers to be dry when installed and most sands require approximately 24 hours of no rain for the sand to set additionally polymeric sand typically takes about 30 days to cure so there should be no sealing of the pavers happening before this time step one is to sweep the sand most paver manufacturers have approximate rates of sand required to fill a certain square footage area that you can use to calculate the number of bags you will need to purchase with the bags you will spread the sand around the project pushing it no further than 10 feet to prevent the formula from separating the area should be swept clean of any sand from the surface to prevent scuffing the pavers in the next step of the process we use a push broom with a combination of fine and stiff bristles to move the sand around some projects you will need to tape the sides of pavers when they meet a soft area to prevent the sand from spilling out before you are able to activate it step two is to consolidate the sand this often skip step will allow for the polymeric sand to reach the bottom of the paver and helps to seat the pavers into the bedding course if this step is skipped air pockets will remain as the sand gets choked on its way to the bottom of the joint causing eventual failure in the polymeric sand at least two passes should be made on your surface perpendicular to each other icpi calls for a compactor of at least five thousand pounds of force to be used in this step in order to not damage or scuff the pavers during the step there needs to be some sort of protection below the compactor or on top of the pavers in these examples you will see that we use plywood to protect our papers the most efficient and cost effective method of doing this is to actually purchase a pad for your compactor that will clamp down onto the front of your compactor protecting the pavers during the consolidation process with this pad we found that you need to really tighten the clamps as much as possible or the compactor will eventually loosen the clamps with the vibration you can find this pad that we used linked in the description there are also paver roller machines that are used specifically for the step in the installation process of consolidation and can be trusted to protect even one inch thick material from cracking while consolidating the jointing compound once your passes are completed you will need to inspect the area and replace any chipped or cracked product these first two steps will need to be completed until you have achieved the proper level of sand in the joint which may take many more times for joints that are small the sand should be 1 8 of an inch below the top of the paver or the top of the chamfer if it is any higher than this the traffic above will eventually erode the sand from the surface causing failure of the polymeric sand a leaf blower should be used to remove any dust and sand from the surface of the stones and to help to achieve the proper joint height the final step in this process is the activation of the polymeric sand for proper watery instructions you will need to consult with the manufacturer as each of them have a different process of activation and this has changed over time it is also an extremely a crucial part of the process to get right these instructions are typically listed on the bag in this case we use a shower setting on our whole nozzle starting at the bottom of our project slope so as to not prematurely activate any polymeric sand causing them to not accept any further water when we get to activating them we soak the joints until we see a white foam and that the joints have stopped accepting any more water as it is built up on the surface of the stone we move our way in small sections to the top of the slope and move our hose nozzle back and forth so that we do not overwhelm any area with too much water causing the erosion of the joints in other installations we follow similar steps but complete a quick wetting of the surface before repeating with a second more thorough wetting of the joints again it is extremely important to follow the manufacturer's directions when it comes to activating the sand if you have any sand left on the surface of the pavers you can use your leaf blower to blow that sand off and into the joint any buildup of sand and corners can be taken care of now if there are any problems with your installation these can generally be taken care of and we will have a video about polymeric sand problems and solutions on our channel shortly but for now you can find a link to an article in the description on this topic with your sand activated your paver project is complete if you have any questions leave them in the comment section below like this video if you found it helpful

Channel: I Am a Hardscaper

Views: 88,410

Keywords: hardscape, hardscapes, hardscaping, hardscaper, hardscapers, installation, paver, pavers, paving stones, paving stone, contractor, contractors

Id: E5mHXt8E3eY

Length: 6min 16sec (376 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 04 2021