Need help with a paverstone driveway

[apom 14]

Hey everyone

Looking to help my parents to fix there driveway. It's a patio stone paver driveway. about 14 years old hasn't really had any proper maintenance or cleaning ever. First problem is there is an ant problem. The ants are removing the sand from under the pavers and making them sink. 2) oil stains. I was told BT200 works good for this.

My plan is to use something for the ants. (Any suggestions?) power-wash with a rotary nozzle and BT200. Then Sweep fine sand into the joints to replace whatever was removed. Finish off with a sealer. First time doing this so any tips and suggestions would be appreciated.

Edited July 28, 2012 by apom

[Rick2 42]

Bt200 works great but it's the least of your problems at this point. Your main concern is the sand between the pavers. A rotary tip will blast the sand all over. A surface cleaner will do the same. There is a type of sand that hardens like concrete between the pavers, I believe this is what you want. Maybe you could go to a mason store and ask them.

[Adrian 155]

Either way, you are going to have to replace sand, that is, if you are going for a full restoration.

You only need to run some sodium hypochlorite / soap water over the suface area.

However there is no need to make a big mess out of the existing sand either.

Therefore. Put away your pressure washer.

Apply with a pump sprayer. The stronger the mix, the more effective it wil be.

You should see the mix start to lift the mold algae whatver off of the pavers.

Up to this point you havent blown sand everywhere, you flushed out the ants with your mix and you can rinse the pavers with your garden hose.

Yes, you may have to aggitate a little in some areas and even reapply your mix at different strengths.

BTW this is just a scenario for you to help a bit. I know nothing of your square footage on this project.

Y ou don't want to make this job bigger than it has to be as a DIY,

just rinse everything off to the sides of your driveway area and keep the dirty water on your property and you will be legal,

Rinse alot.!!!!!!!!!!!

Then order all the sand you will need to recoat the driveway. Deal with your bug problem at the root since you flushed them out.

And have some fun with your family spreading it all out.

Then you might think about sealing in all of your efforts to ths point.

If you suddenly realize the project is too large for DIY then give one of the members of this forum a call to help you out.

There's just no need to sling that sand everywhere. use it for base support as intended.

You'll be fine.

[apom 14]

I haven't measured but it's a a pretty big driveway. I would say it's in the 800-1000sqft range. Not a small project by any means.

So you think bleach and water will wipe the ants out?

The sand that turns hard like concrete sounds ideal.

[Adrian 155]

From a contractors standpoint, that is a really small project, at least from my stand point.

A 2 gallon pump sprayer with straight SH will cover approx 2000 sq. ft. and that amount of sq. footage can be sprayed by hand in about 15 minutes.

Keep in mind you are not going to be completely saturating as much as we would. Again, it may take different strengths and attempts to get desired results.

Plus it will take you much linger. However from a DIY perspective you could concievably start your project early and be done with the cleaning by mid afternoon.

It just sounded to me like you didnt want to blast the existing sand everywhere. It can be done with a PW as if you are able to dial down your psi.

If not just remember that more distance with the wand = less psi as well.Don't want to damage the pavers and minimize the sand spreadage.

Your entire project will have to be broken up into phases. I don't think you can pull it off without putting a few days into the project. Don't rush yourself and it's attainable as a DIY project. But if it gets out of hand ( as mentioned) on the cleaning and prep of the pavers, call a professional.

The ants will most likely only be pissed off and flee the scene. You may murder several in the process but by no means is that the end of the problem.

The mix will most certainly make them wanna set up shop somewhere else for you to deal later with unless you get a pest control specialist to nuke them proper.

Keep in mind that your store bought SH is most likely pnly 6% strength as contractors like to use 12-15% strength.

That just means you may have to use almost full strength with dish soap to get better results.

Good luck.

[apom 14]

What's SH?

So far bleach hasn't wiped these guys out...

[newlook 265]

If the ants are removing the sand from underneath the pavers how do you expect to replace the sand without lifting the paver? Sweeping or flushing the new sand in between the paver joints will not aide in the leveling process that is needed.

[bigchaz 157]

You need a pest guy for the ants or they will just come back. You also need to lift up all the sunken pavers and add sand/re compact the base before reinstalling the sunk pavers. Then you can clean the pavers and sweep new sands into the joints.

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