How to Take Care of Your Stone Paver Driveway, Walkway or Patio
You invested in an attractive, unique stone driveway. It looks natural, fresh and clean today, but how will it look 5 years from now? 10?
Making that just-installed look last takes a little regular work, but it’s worth it for the continued beauty a stone driveway and walkway gives your property.
Your pavers can look as good a decade from now as they do today, as long as you…
Clean the surface of your pavers regularly
Dirt and debris dull the finish of your pavers.
Wet leaves cause staining on pavers. The stains can be washed off, but it takes a lot more elbow grease than simply cleaning the leaves away before rain.
A quick sweep or a wash with your hose preserves the finish of your stone pavers for decades.
Update sealing regularly
You don’t have to seal your pavers, unless you want to keep them looking new and cared-for.
Your stone driveway will last for a long, long time without sealing, but the finish will fade and gradually dull to an unattractive shade of its former beauty.
Seal your pavers annually.
- Power wash or thoroughly sweep your pavers clean.
- Let the surface dry completely.
- Apply a stone paver sealer with a roller or sprayer (we like the roller because it gives you precise control of your application depth).
- Stay off the pavers for at least 12 hours while the sealer dries.
Don’t let stains settle
Your in-laws show up unannounced for the weekend and park that leaky old gremlin of a car on your pristine driveway. Surprise, surprise, it leaks some sort of grease or gas in a thick puddle.
If you keep up with your sealing, removing the stain is easy, but you aren’t out of luck if you’re a little behind on your sealing either.
To clean it off, find a simple powder dish detergent and mix it into a thick paste. Spread the paste onto the stain and scrub with a brush (a cheap scrub brush from your nearest collar store works). Allow to sit for 20 minutes before hosing away the wash.
Don’t let the weeds dig in
Weeds can pop up in soil accumulating between the seams in your pavers.
Keep the weeds from getting a foothold by filling the spaces with polymeric sand. Top up your polymeric sand every year.
Application is simple. Just buy a bag (or, for your driveway, many bags), dump it on your driveway and sweep it across the surface repeatedly until all your seams are full.
Always replace broken pavers
A cracked paver doesn’t have to deface your driveway for the rest of time.
You can dig out the sand around the edges with any thin implement. A thin slot screwdriver or even a utility knife is enough to dig out the sand in the seams.
Pull out the paver and make sure no sand fell in, making the base uneven.
Flatten out the base again if necessary, add a similar paver and replace the polymeric sand in the seams.
It’s always good to keep a few stones in storage after your new driveway, walkway or patio is installed, just for occasions like this. They are rare, but stones can break. Replacing a ruined stone maintains the quality of your entire surface.
Don’t have a stone driveway or patio? Maybe it’s time to upgrade
Stone is better than asphalt 100% of the time.
If you’re ready to give your home a more contemporary look and upgrade its curb appeal, we can help you with design and installation.
We have hundreds of patios, walkways and driveways in our portfolio, and you get the benefit of that experience.
Call us today to talk about your vision. We’ll help you make it real.
