Patio grout plays a huge role in reducing the amount of maintenance and time needed on your garden patio. There’s nothing worse than weeds growing through old grout on a weekly basis, forever spraying weed killer to keep them at bay as well as pouring in ant treatment to keep them from digging up sand too. And let’s not forget the important role of patio sealer thereafter that creates a hard layer with the grout! Patio grout looks great but also stops weeds and ants coming through

Sand - 20kg Dansand NO GROW Block Paving Jointing Sand - 20kg

Building / Soft / sand is rarely bone dry so tends to clump together and not flow freely like kiln dried

The joint material consists of a mixture of oven-dried nutrient-poor minerals which give the product its stylish light colour Alternatively you can use a ratio of 1 part cement and 3 parts sand for patios. Do not use any other ratio, as it won't set properly and you will need to do it again.

Patio | DIY Doctor How to Lay a Patio | DIY Doctor

Experts recommend starting with small areas first. Say, 10 feet by 10 feet. Use the “shower” setting on a hose nozzle. The goal is to saturate the joint filled with sand. Spray a joint and observe. If the water seeps down into the sand, then it’s not saturated. When your patio or driveway was poured, chances are that the professionals installed a joint expansion system. Many times, an asphalt-saturated fiberboard or felt was used. But that material decomposes. Then lay your plastic sheet on the ground a short distance from where you are going to use the mortar. If you have an ant problem this isn’t a bad shout. Most of the ranges reviewed in this article work but Sika Pave Fix Plus Buff make a point of advertising this specific compound as resistant to ants. It’s super annoying watching an army of ants pushing up sand from your patio and well worth dealing with the problem as soon as possible. Filling gaps between patio pavers is one of those jobs you can just keep putting off – but we all know it needs to be done.I’ve had the same problem with my driveway, sand washing out, weeds, moss, generally looking grubby The other big advantage with this compound is that you can simply brush it in without firmly pushing it in according to the instructions. In reality following this has led to having to top up a few days later but the result was all the same, near perfect and looks beautiful against stone. Filling gaps between paving slabs on the patio with polymeric sand How Do You Fill The Gap Between a Concrete Patio and The House?

Pointing Patios: A How To Guide For a Great Looking Finish

Everbuild Geo-Fix is another quality offering. You simply lay in sand to about 1 inch off the surface depth. Then brush in the grout level to the surface. This is another brush in patio grout that’ll make a huge difference in reducing your maintenance going forward. I chose this over the standard Geo-Fix patio grout because it can be worked in the rain which is kind of a big deal in the UK. I can’t even begin to count how many projects I’ve started in the garden to then get caught by a random shower… This is very much the same process as pointing a patio, but you will need to do a little prep beforehand. First you will need to remove the old pointing with a hammer and a bolster or plugging chisel. Scoop four shovels full of sharp sand onto the plastic sheet to make mortar for general use, such as laying paving slabs, or three shovels of sharp sand to create a patio pointing mix (for filling the gaps between paving slabs). Weed inhibiting joint sand is used for grooves in new and existing concrete pavements/patios and drivewaysIf doing the job yourself you obviously save on labour costs but you will need to buy the pointing materials and tools. There are two choices for materials: jointing compound or the old-school option sand and cement. Sand and cement is around a third of the cost of jointing compound. Builders call that gap an expansion joint. When the house was built and the slab patio poured, there was no gap. Cement expands and contracts with temperature. The house slab cement is shaded and stable, while the patio cement will expand and contract with the seasons. The joint material has a long lifespan and can endure, many years of permeating rain without losing its weed inhibiting effect

Builders - What sand to use for filling patio gaps? Builders - What sand to use for filling patio gaps?

When using a dry mix you need to make sure that your patio slabs are completely dry and that there is no rain forecast. This will help make sure that dry mix doesn’t form into clumps and doesn’t stain your slabs, giving decent looking and effective pointing. However, the results were amazing and the patio looked great – so it’s always well worth the effort. 🙂 Polymeric sand works best to fill gaps between 1/4 inch and 1.5 inches wide. Wider joints will require more time to harden. Some pavers are designed to fit together like puzzle pieces – if the gap is too small, polymeric sand won’t help. The two cement slabs will always be expanding and contracting independently, so you need to fix it with something that is a little flexible – not cement based. If you are using a traditional dry mix you will get a smoother finish if you use a dry building sand or a kiln-dried jointing sand (which is a fine dry sand). Sharp sand is coarser than both and won’t give such a smooth finish.

Cleaning & Maintenance

When expansion joints no longer have any sealing materials, water can leak through, and water under a concrete slab can cause big problems. Water can leak into basements and sunrooms. Water can erode the soil underlying a driveway or patio slab and the cement can collapse into the void. The jointing compound wants a 3mm gap (no problem if much larger like 10mm) and in their example they want to highlight an inch depth, despite being a new install, they will still want you to go an inch down on your old patio – this is pretty much the standard and whilst it never guarantees you hold weeds and insects at bay, you give yourself the best possible chance!