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OT. paved drive. what sand?
keithice - 27/3/11 at 11:30 PM

As per the title really, suddenly realised my drive was paved three years ago, have not sanded it yearly as recommended but it has looked fine till this spring, used a moss killer (very impressed, worked over night), and pathclear for the odd tuft of grass. I have scraped/washed out the existing sand and now need to replace it. So three questions please;

1) What type of sand do I require?

2) Do I get it from B&Q or a builders merchant (price/quality)?

3) Is there a sealant I could use to minimize maintenance/limit weed and moss growth?

Thank you in advance, Keithice...


PAUL FISHER - 27/3/11 at 11:42 PM

Ive just redone my block paved drive last week, kiln dried sand is what you need, bought mine from wickes, £3.69 a bag, my drive is quite big, I can park 2 cars a van and a trailer on it, and used 3 bags to give you some idea of how much you might need. I dont know about sealing it, mine has been down 15 years now, I just clean it and resand it every few years, and it comes up like new again.


keithice - 28/3/11 at 01:28 AM

cheers paul, much appreciated..


Krismc - 28/3/11 at 07:39 AM

Yea kiln dried, (or even better silver sand) you got a local dewsons? wickes or B&Q you will be fine. wickes stuff is a little dirty when i last got some, remember too put in in on a dry day or it will look cack.



....and whys this in the electics forum??

[Edited on 28/3/11 by Krismc]


jabs - 28/3/11 at 07:56 AM

Try local builders merchants first as I found, on timber at least, dewsons and B&Q were more than twice as expensive as local firm


David Jenkins - 28/3/11 at 08:13 AM

The blokes who did my drive last year used a mix of sand & reclaimed ground-up bottle glass. Looked like a glittery sand.

Allegedly it is more stable and less likely to move around under the blocks.

Doubt that you'll find it in B&Q though!


nick205 - 28/3/11 at 11:16 AM

Had our drive paved about 6 weeks ago and still going round brushing in sand here and there as it settles. One issue it's highlighted is a couple f places where the gutter drips - the drips keep washing the sand out of the joints! Must get up there and sort this out.

Kiln dried sand from the local sand and ballast merchant was what the contractor used and left me half a bag of.


keithice - 29/3/11 at 04:06 AM

Krismc... u always put paving questions in the "electric" section... any fule noes dat...... Actuallly Kris this is my 4th attempt to answer you as three times when I wrote the original question and now trying to thank you all for your assistance, the system just randomly logs me off. No apparent rhyme or reason.. so the electric section was just the one that worked...