If you have pavers as your patio, divided sections in your concrete sidewalk, or any other concrete that is split, you may be struggling with keeping weeds from popping up and ruining the look of your home.
While you can spray weedkiller or blast them with a power washer, those methods won’t last the season or necessarily be effective. By using polymeric sand, you can keep the weeds down by sealing up the joints in your concrete.
Here’s what you’ll need to do the job and how to do it:
Ingredients:
- Flathead screwdriver
- Polymeric sand
- Cup
- Broom
- Leaf blower
- Garden sprayer
- Spray bottle
- White Vinegar
- Dishwashing soap
Step 1: Kill the Weeds
In a spray bottle, combine white vinegar with a teaspoon of dish soap which will make the vinegar stick to the weeds long enough to kill them. For maximum effect, it’s best to spray the weeds during prime hours for intense heat and sunshine, so the weeds will absorb the vinegar.
Step 2: Remove the Weeds
You can either wait until the next day to remove the dead weeds or just dig them up alive. Before you can seal up your concrete joints, you need to make sure all the existing weeds are gone. You can either use your hands or a flathead screwdriver to pull them out.
Step 3: Fill Joints with Sand
Using a cup, pour sand into the concrete joints. Sweep the sand all the way into the joints with your broom. To keep the sand from staining any of your concrete, use a leaf blower to blow away the excess sand. (Don’t forget this step!)
Step 4: Mist the Polymeric Sand
Once you are sure the only sand remaining is in the joints of the concrete, NOT on the surface, begin misting the concrete joints with a garden sprayer. You should put down 3 to 4 water applications over the sand.
There are two important things to keep in mind as you do this.
One: Avoid puddling. And two: Don’t wait more than 3 minutes between each application, so do small sections at a time to avoid letting the sand sit too long between watering.
Once you’ve finished spraying, let your patio sit untouched for 24 hours. After sealing your concrete joints with polymeric sand, you should be protected from any weed flare-ups. If you want to put an end to weeds in your concrete for good, contact our team.
At Creative Concrete Solutions, we can provide you with the look of concrete pavers without the pesky joints that attract weeds and bugs. Call us!
