Patios that use pavers give a dramatic look to exterior living spaces, and knowing what to put between pavers can be a challenge. Laying and locking the pavers to avoid shifting require learning how to use paver sand in construction. Find out what is the best to put in between pavers as you create that dream patio outside your home.
Setting a Strong Base
Before understanding what to use to fill in between pavers, start off with a strong base that may require digging. A base layer can be made sturdy by using crushed rock or gravel to avoid poor drainage. The sharp-grained sand to be used for pouring over the surface must be a few inches thick before it gets packed down by a compacting machine.
You can add another layer of sand and repeat the same process for compacting. The principle of compacting will help you to know what to put between pavers. To know how do you keep sand between pavers, do compacting twice. The first layer needs to be set before compacting another.
Layering the Bedding
Before putting sand between pavers in patio, work first on the bedding layer. Avoid walking on the compacted sand to avoid creating depressions that can make the bedding uneven. Add a one-inch thick sand layer that will serve as the soft cushion for the pavers to be embedded. The sand layer should be made up of the same sand type used in the base. This bedding is important because it provides the pavers ample support before applying sand between pavers.
Filling the Gaps and Compacting
The pavers have gaps in between and filling these in will lock each brick into place. After the pavers are embedded, a thin layer of sand between pavers in patio needs to be spread over them before it gets swept with a push broom. Do this several times until all the paver gaps are filled in with the same type of sand used in the initial stages. Knowing what to use to fill in between pavers will make you realize that coarse sand between pavers holds everything better by creating more friction than the usual type of fine and smooth sand.
Wet polymeric sand is the best answer to what is the best to put in between pavers. Being water-activated, it hardens easily after being applied and it won’t get washed away with rain or water.
Worry no more about how do you keep sand between pavers, since
replacing the sand too often can be avoided. Repeated sanding is needed
to fill the gaps before sweeping the sand. The final step is to use a
compacting machine over the surface so the sand can be settled deep into
the spaces of the joints. Later on, you can also experiment with growing moss on your pavers to keep the natural look in your landscape.
Now that you know what is the best to put in between pavers, consulting a professional in your local area to do all the work is the next path to take. An expert who specializes in constructing and removing stains from pavers will know how to use paver sand so you don’t have to worry about going through the process on your own.