Monday 30 March 2015

EASYJoint, Block Paving & Water

An example of narrow jointed block paving not suitable for EASYJoint

On a recent visit to one of my customers, I was asked if EASYJoint could be used in block paving with quite large gaps due to the blocks having ‘cropped edges’. The short answer is yes & no. 


With traditional block paving, the blocks are laid on a bed of sharp sand and compacted and then the joints are filled with kiln dried sand before a final pass with the whacker plate. 
Kiln dried sand is used because it is very fine and funnels in to virtually any gap. Now EASYJoint can fill joints of 3mm and above and once cured it is hard and very permeable. The downsides to using EASYJoint for block paving are twofold.

1. The compound MUST be removed completely from the surface of the blocks or it will harden and be very difficult to clean up.

2. Because block paving is not bedded in concrete there is a chance that the blocks may move about a bit and this movement could cause the hardened slither of EASYJoint to rise up out of the joint. 

If you have laid blocks in concrete and have large gaps then it is ok to use EASYJoint just as long as you clean the finished area of any leftover compound.

The permeability of EASYJoint means that it is very efficient at displacing water from the surface and providing your sub-base is free draining you will not get any problems.

A top tip if you are a DIYer is to go to your local building material supplier and ask them for a couple of contacts of local tradesmen. These people usually know who to avoid!

For information on all our products including EASYJoint visit: azpects.co.uk/products.aspx

Written by Jeff Carter; employee Of Azpects Ltd (plus ex Landscape Gardener and Paving Centre Manager)