It leaves a nasty haze all over the place, and is overall a wasteful, expensive mess and a disappointment. Bad news, that stuff.Īnts love sand, but I never see ant hills among my flagstones, as they do not seem to like screenings at all. This includes gator dust and any other type or brand of polysand. Polymeric sand, in the above scenario, will either crack up, or, worse yet, it may stay solid on top, leaving that void beneath, causing more problems until the poly sand finally does crack up. You simply sweep more screenings into the joint and life is good, with no great worries at all. If you used screenings as both the leveling agent and as the joint filler, this is no big deal. Even if you are using a more uniform paver, the gravel foundation may not compact 100 percent perfectly. Small voids may be left underneath your paving units–especially if you are using irregular natural stone. Screenings, unlike polymeric sand, will indeed settle over time, however– and that is a good thing! Read that again–stone dust settling down in-between flagstone is a GOOD thing. these fines, when dampened, actually do bind up with the larger chips, becoming semi-solid. Powder-like fine material mixed in as well. Really, the screenings are made of small chips of stone, about one eighth of an inch in size, with tiny Screenings are heavier than regular sand, thus they will not wash out quite so easily. Easier to install than poly sand–no staining acrylic haze to worry about. Once all the stones are laid, sweep more screenings into the joints. First, lay a foundation of compacted stone aggregate, then lay individual flagstones using screenings as the leveling agent. Related content: how to level flagstones in stone dust and use stone dust as a joint material Fit those stones together nicely: But tiny cracks do form, and weeds will get in there, roots will grow, cracks will get worse. Polymeric sand is indeed pretty good on these fronts….for the first year or 3. it will likely stay glued to itself….but the bricks or stone that it is set amongst–these will not be clean surfaces. Furthermore, the polymeric sand stays in place because it is glued together and also glued to the stones or bricks it is placed between. Paving units will shift slightly, especially in colder climates with a freeze thaw cycle. One of the beautiful things about dry laid patios is that the foundation can withstand freeze and thaw without cracking like concrete will. Natural flagstone, concrete paver and ceramic brick patios and walkways are set upon gravel foundations, their joints then need to be filled. Polymeric sand is generally intended for dry laid paver applications. As such, when maintenance issues do arise, you probably want to call a pro and have them deal with it.Įven after using polymeric sand on dozens of patios and walkways, a landscape contractor will still make messes with this stuff, and will still leave behind haze which they themselves are often unable to clean.Ģ. You also have to be very careful that the joint is filled all the way, and also make sure that there is no material left on top of the paving units, before you hose down. Also, do not have the hose on too powerful of a setting, or you can blow the poly sand right out of the joint, and get it all over the flagstone/paver/whatever. Use too much water and the binder, an acrylic glue, washes out and leaves a nasty haze all over your carefully laid flagstone. Well, it’s fairly easy, but you have to be careful–the sand is mixed with a binder. ![]() If a project interests me I can be convinced to travel.ġ. Patio I built in Northern California circa 2018. Related content: One on one help is available. Let’s examine these advantages one at a time: Sounds like a winner, right? Well, it’s more complicated than that. It does not get dug out by ants, weeds can’t grow through it and it does not wash out. Once it dries and hardens, the sand stays in place. You simply sweep the material into the flagstone (or other paver) joints, lightly hose down, then it solidifies. As easy to install as regular sand, almost. Polymeric sand, or “poly-sand” seemed great at first. ![]() They come out with new gimmicky products all the time, new products come and go. Its popularity increased steadily for a decade and now it is a very common landscape product. I first started seeing this stuff about fifteen years ago. ![]() Polymeric sand is sand with an acrylic binder added. Devin Devine, traveling stone artist based out of North East What to put between flagstone joints–polymeric sand or stone dust?
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