Fall Maintenance for Patios, Walkways and Driveways

As those fall colors in the trees begin to flutter to the ground, try to remember to regularly blow or sweep the surfaces of your driveway, patio and walkways.  While autumn leaves can be quite beautiful, cool nights and warm days will cause condensation which, when mixed with leaves, can stain your concrete pavers.  In addition to leaves, certain trees, like the glorious maple, have whets called samaras (aka ‘helicopters’) which can be very abundant, particularly after higher stressed seasons.  In order to promote seed growth, Mother Nature designs samaras to dissolve with only small amounts of moisture; the downside is that they can stain even more easily than a leaf.

Besides sweeping the surfaces of this debris, sealing paver surfaces can also help stains from penetrating too deep into the surface of the stone, making them easier to clean.  If you have not already sealed your paver project and live in an area with an abundance of leaves, you may choose to consider sealing.

As patio season winds down you should also consider removing any furniture, planter urns or barbeques from your patio.  While some of these items may be marked as rustproof or ‘exterior grade’, it only takes one screw, bolt or nut that wasn’t rust proofed to cause an unsightly stain when subjected to the rigours of winter weather.  If you do find a rust stain on your pavers, it will be a little harder to clean off but not impossible if you use a rust remover specially designed for pavers.

A well installed paver driveway, walkway or patio is designed to stand the test of time.  With just a little proactive maintenance these paver surfaces will continue to look great for many years to come.

Celebrate Earth Day with Permeable Pavers

The first Earth Day took more than forty years ago in the United States with more than 20 million Americans participating in coast-to-coast rallies to raise awareness for a healthy, sustainable environment.  Now, April 22^nd is celebrated as Earth Day in more than 184 countries around the world.

Here in North America, Earth Day coincides with the time of year when homeowners return to their gardens.  For those homeowners who are considering changes to their outdoor living spaces, many are looking for ways to ensure that these changes are as environmentally friendly as possible.  One approach, worthy of consideration, is permeable pavers for patios, driveways and walkways.

Did you know … that many urban areas face problems of excessive storm water volume and poor water quality due to runoff?  When we replace natural vegetation with impervious pavements, we reduce Mother Nature’s ability to naturally infiltrate rainwater, which can contribute to flooding and pollution of natural water systems.  While traditional methods of dealing with this problem include redirecting excess runoff to detention ponds, a permeable paver system offers a more efficient solution by treating rainwater at the source and reducing storm water runoff.

Permeable paver products such as Eco-Priora™ and Eco-Optiloc™ from Unilock (pictured above) are designed with space in between the paver units that allow rapid penetration of rainwater into the sub-base and subsoil.  This space is filled with clear, fine stone chips which allow rainwater to flow through the pavement surface and ultimately back into the natural water table rather than off the pavement and into municipal storm water management systems.

Design options for permeable pavers have never been better.  While permeable pavers were initially designed with utility in mind for large scale commercial projects, this has changed.  Permeable pavers are now available with premium finishes, like Unilock’s Town Hall pavers which are cast from original brick street pavers for an attractive, time-worn appearance.

 Many homeowners choose permeable paving because they want to make a positive impact on their own environment, but others are considering it because they live in a city where new legislation limits use of impervious surfaces on residential properties.  Even if a homeowner’s city hasn’t yet set these limits, in order to maintain maximum flexibility for future projects, it makes sense to consider permeable for projects today.

For more detailed information on permeable paving, follow this link: Permeable Paving

Spring Maintenance for Paver Driveways, Patios and Walkways

It’s spring cleaning season and yes, even your outdoor living spaces deserve some TLC!  Here are some preventative maintenance steps you can take at this time of year to ensure your project continues to look great through this patio season, and beyond.

Inspect the perimeter of the project: Look for areas where the joints between the stones are getting larger (commonly referred to as “creep”). “Creep” can be caused by stresses of the winter months or heavy use that has caused the stones to push out. Be sure to lift any areas along the edge that need repair.  Usually, this is just a matter of a few stones along the perimeter.  Be sure to clean the sides of the pavers before reinstalling. If you do not remove the sand from the sides of the stones it will be very difficult to get them back into place properly.  If the joints were filled with polymeric sand you may find that it is stuck to the side of the paver.  If this is the case, wet the stone to help soften up the sand and then use a putty knife to scrape the material off the sides of the paver. If there is no edge restraint installed, you should consider installing some.  There are a number of great “invisible edge” restraints available that are easy to install and are just spiked down into the base materials.   It is very important that the edge restraint is sitting directly on the compacted granular base, not the soft soils surrounding the project, as the spikes will not hold in the softer materials.  If you do not have a good base to spike the restraint to, you should do a little excavation and install a good stable base.

 Inspect the surface for any dips:   Dips in the pavement surface are usually caused by base or sub base settlement; new homes that have had a lot of property grading prior to the building of the home are more prone to this. Settlement should always be addressed, as it can cause water to pool on the surface which can create a hazard (winter ice!) in the short term and will lead to deeper dips in the long term. Identify the area that has been affected and mark with chalk. The most difficult part of this job is getting the first stone out!  If possible, try to start at an edge and work your way to the problem area. If this approach is not practical then you can try a couple of screwdrivers down either side of a stone to pry it up. Blasting the sand out with a hose first makes this much easier. Always start with the smallest stone in the pattern, as it will be the easiest one to get out. Once you get the first stone out, you can get under the other stones and the job becomes much easier.  When you have removed all the stones, re-level the area with the appropriate amount of sand and reinstall the stones, taking care to clean side of all the stones. You can tamp the stones with a block of wood placed on the surface and hitting with a hammer.  Never strike the surface of the stone directly as this can damage the paver surface.

       Inspect the surface for stains: You will be surprised what a good cleaning will do after a long winter to bring life back to your paving stones! If there are no serious stains to address, then a good pressure wash will do the job. If a pressure washer is not available, use a bit of dish detergent in some water and clean the area with a stiff bristle broom. For stains, or a paver surface requiring more serious cleaning, consider using a specialized concrete cleaner.  The most import tip to remember with any concrete cleaner is to read the instructions. There are right and wrong ways to use these products. The wrong way will diminish the effectiveness of the cleaner and may even lead to discoloration of the paver. Test the cleaner in a small unobtrusive area to make sure you are happy with the results before applying to the entire surface.

4.       Inspect the Joints:  If there are small weeds in the joints remove them.  Weeds are caused when seeds blow into joints and then germinate; they do not grow from beneath the pavers. This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to ensure that the material in the joints is in good shape. If your project has regular, un-stabilized sand in the joints, you may need to top it up so the joints remain full. If your project utilizes a stabilized sand (Polymeric or Unilock Easy Pro for example), or if you have used a joint stabilizing sealer on top of regular sand, this is less likely to be needed.  However, if this type of jointing material is in need of repair the best approach is to remove all of the old material and start fresh with new material.

5.       Consider Sealing: Sealing a paver surface is not necessary, but some homeowners like the way a sealer can enhance the color of their pavers and provide some stain protection.  If you chose to seal your paver project, you will need to re-seal every 3-5 years. High traffic areas like driveways will need to be re-sealed most often, but you should never apply sealer more frequently than 2 years. When selecting sealers, you can choose between a high gloss sealer, which will enhance the color of your paving stones or a matte finish that will simply help protect the pavers. Also, if you are re-sealing it is very important to use the same sealant as originally applied, there are a number of different sealants out there all having their own formulas. One of the critical components of re-sealing is that the new coat should dissolve the first coat and bond together to create a consistent surface protection. If you apply different sealers, you may not get this bonding action or you may have a chemical reaction that will turn the sealant milky. If you do not know what sealant has been applied previously then do a small test of an obscure area of pavers and see how the new sealer reacts.

Following this little bit of preventative maintenance every year will protect your investment and keep it looking great for years!