Patio Fix

We actually started to put the patio back together once the 4x4 posts were up, but we hit a snag when we were putting the pavers back in. Our wet tile saw that we needed was out on loan at a friend’s house and we had forgotten. Whoops! So we had to put the second half of the patio re- installation on hold until we could coordinate a tool drop off.

Anyways, the first half of the patio re-installation went very quickly and smoothly. To get the patio back together around the posts over the cement footings, we filled in around the footing with the gravel base, wet it and then tamped it down with the hand tamper. Then we put in the patio sand base and leveled it out.

We started to put the pavers back in place when we realized they were still covered in chunks of polymetric sand. So we had to chisel that stuff off first so they fit - that stuff is really like cement! But then the pavers went back into place fairly quickly, with the exception of the ones that needed to be cut down.

Fast forward a week, and we had the wet tile saw back. Mike cut down 4 pavers around the posts to make room for them. Amazingly on the left side, only 1 paver needed to be cut down - though into 3 parts. On the right side he had to cut down 3 pavers - including one at a slightly odd angle to make room for the post screws.

Once those were in, we could finally put down the polymetric sand that holds everything together so well. There were actually a few spots on the patio that needed another dose of sand (after 2 full years that’s not bad at all!), so we wanted to hit them all at once. When the bag is opened and the sand is exposed to the humidity, anything unused would be ruined anyways. So we cleared the patio off completely, cleaned it of any debris with the blower, then put down the sand in the necessary spots. Just like during our original patio installation, we swept it into the cracks with a broom and then used the blower to clear off any remaining sand from the tops of the pavers (once this stuff gets wet, it’s stuck like cement). Then we hit the whole patio with the hose on the mist setting and let it dry.

It was a big relief to finally have the patio back together. After putting so much work into building it, it was hard to tear it up - even just a few pavers for a good cause. So it felt really good to have the whole patio back together, new and improved with the pergola posts over it!