Repair / Recondition Block Paving Drive

FreeBear

pmartin86 said: Great - Does the sand "keep" if left indoors?

Got a bag & a half stashed in the shed outside. As long as it doesn't get wet, it never goes "off". Even if the sand does get wet, spread it out in the sun, and it will dry out again. Also have a couple of wet bags that I got from B&Q on the cheap. Will use that sand for other things.

Ebe_Scrooge

victor2 said:

We have a block paved drive, not as big as that, but takes two cars with ease. Every year (it's due now!) I jet wash it and brush kiln dried sand into the gaps. Takes about 1 bag to do the entire drive. Don't bother with the "anti-weed" sand. It's twice the price, and in my experience, does absolutely nothing. The weeds start appearing after a few weeks, as they always do.

Keep thinking about sealing it, but it is expensive to do, and I can live with an annual jet-wash.

Ditto.  Our drive is big (4 - 5 cars) so it's quite a lengthy job (I usually plan on at least 5 or 6 hours to jet-wash it thoroughly).  And bloomin' messy !  But it really is the simplest way of getting rid of all the weeds and other muck.  And it only needs doing once a year.  Likewise, I've often thought about sealing it.  But I figure that even with the best sealant in the world, it's going to crack eventually with cars driving on it and the blocks moving by a very tiny amount.  So seems a waste of money to me, and a day's work once a year is not exactly the greatest hardship :-)

OP, you need to choose your day to re-sand.  You want the drive itself to be dry (so you need to leave it at least a day after you've washed it).  And you want the weather to be dry as well.  Re-sanding is very easy as long as everything is nice and dry.

victor2

Ebe_Scrooge said:

victor2 said:

We have a block paved drive, not as big as that, but takes two cars with ease. Every year (it's due now!) I jet wash it and brush kiln dried sand into the gaps. Takes about 1 bag to do the entire drive. Don't bother with the "anti-weed" sand. It's twice the price, and in my experience, does absolutely nothing. The weeds start appearing after a few weeks, as they always do.

Keep thinking about sealing it, but it is expensive to do, and I can live with an annual jet-wash.

Ditto.  Our drive is big (4 - 5 cars) so it's quite a lengthy job (I usually plan on at least 5 or 6 hours to jet-wash it thoroughly).  And bloomin' messy ! 

...

I'll second that. Certainly not a job to do in your Sunday best!!

I even warn our neighbours, if they've parked on the road next to our drive, that their car is likely to get sand blasted if left there.

pmartin86

Thanks all - Defiantly feel a lot more confident of keeping this drive alive for the foreseeable future now and not being "that neighbour" that the rest of the street looks down on! (not for the drive at least!)