by Dwayne Regehr
Many once-beautiful patios have transformed into weedy eyesores over the years. Fine sand employed to fill the joints between pavers and stones tends to blow away with wind and washed away by rain. Once that sand disappears, dirt moves in. Weeds love unoccupied dirt. And so do insects: a sand and dirt mixture makes for an attractive habitat for ants.
Polymeric sand all but eliminates this problem. Polymeric sand, often called poly-sand, is a fine sand mixed with a powdered-epoxy adhesive. When we're building your patio, we sweep and vibrate Polymeric sand into the joints, just as we would with regular sand, but after blowing the patio surface clean, we sprinkle the entire surface with water. Water activates the epoxy adhesive, cementing the sand into place, a lot like mortar does between bricks.
There are different formulations of poly-sand for pavers with narrow joints and pavers with wide joints. It's available in a range of colors too.
With the sand cemented in place, repairs and changes are a little more difficult, but it's a good trade-off for a low-maintenance surface that can be cleaned with a hose or even a pressure washer without a worry.
Questions? Send us an email at dwayne@earthworkslandscaping.ca
★★★★★
Dwayne came to our home about a month ago, saw what we wanted done, gave us a quote and indicated it would be around 6 weeks before they could get to it. In about 5 weeks he called to indicate thatRead more … they would begin the next day at 8. They were on time, did a great job, in extreme heat & humidity and the end cost was as quoted. Needless to say I enjoy working with people who are on time, honest and do professional work - Earthworks Landscaping covers off all of these important points for me.
★★★★★
Dwayne and crew have given us a beautiful Roman paving stone front and side walkway and parking pad out back. Graceful curves, a perfectionist's attention to technical issues and every minute detail.Read more … On time, on budget. We couldn't be happier.
★★★★★
Very happy with the experience. The thought and care given to the creative side of our sidewalk and patio design was much appreciated and impressive. Dwayne took time to find out our style-then madeRead more … great suggestions on how our cobbles could flow to create the look we wanted. This was very important to me. The job came in on-time, on budget, and is gorgeous. I also very much appreciate the follow up from Earthworks to ensure the flagstone has remained properly seated. I highly recommend Earthworks if you're looking for excellent craftsmanship and not a "kit install" - you will get something unique and creative from from Dwayne and his team.
★★★★★
We heard about this company and the good work they do from a family member. We subsequently hired them to do a large interlocking brick patio and raised stone planter at the rear of our house. TheRead more … patio was large, with an intricate design. I was extremely impressed with their work, right from protecting our lawn from damage to the excellent work they did on the patio and planter. The crew was very pleasant and worked hard in very hot weather. We have already had many compliments on our new patio and planter and we will be hiring them to do a stone planter in our front yard next year. Very professional and service oriented, which is a nice trait in this day and age!